Not For the Faint of Heart

Throwback Thursday will resume next week. We have more fainting stories to tell.

Picking up where we left off -

My sister Denise -
She and my niece Traci were arguing over what kind of Sadie Hawkins shirts Traci should get. Because everyone knows this is such an important decision. Traci went to her room in a huff of teenage angst and slammed the door. Then she heard a thud in the hall. She opened her door and there was Denise out cold on the floor. The best part was Denise's husband David's response (after he heard Traci screaming). He told Traci to just leave her alone and she'd wake up in a minute. Gee, remind me not to pass out in front of my brother-in-law. And then Traci got in trouble for causing too much drama in the house.

My niece Traci -
She was at Aunt Putsy's funeral with her now husband Cade. There's a Louisiana name for you - Putsy, not Cade. I like the name Cade! They were wearing their matching Sadie Hawkins shirts. Maybe. In the Catholic church they have a rosary in which everyone kneels for a really long time - like 30 minutes or so. About halfway through, Traci started feeling a little woozy, but she didn't want to get up because that's not polite during a rosary. Finally, Cade told her to go get some fresh air and before she could stand up she passed out right there in the pew. She opened her eyes to see everyone in front of her and behind her peering over the pew at her. She is not one to want alot of attention so she was mortified! And after all she was kinda stealing Aunt Putsy's thunder. . .Because of that incident she had to beg the priest who married them not to make them kneel during the wedding ceremony because she was afraid she would pass out again!

My nephew Thom -
Middle school. Science class. Everyone is excited because they get to dissect deer hearts. Did I mention this happened in Louisiana. No, I don't think it was BYOH (bring your own heart) although most people in Louisiana could probably track down a deer heart relatively quickly. For some it is as close as their freezer. Anyhoo... Thom was excited about doing this. Until the teacher handed out the somewhat bloody hearts and he picked up the scalpel. Reality set in. He told his teacher he didn't feel very good as he stood up and slid down the wall onto the floor. Poor teacher. It's bad enough she has to teach middle schoolers who are basically hormones with legs, but now she has to deal with "that kid" who faints. I think she switched to teaching English.

The crazy thing about all of these stories is that none of the "incidents" are particularly gory or traumatic. But everyone seems to have at least one story. Except my mom. So we are thinking this must be from my dad's side of the family.

Me -
This is just one of my stories. I had to narrow it down to just two otherwise you guys would get bored. When I was in ninth grade my best friend convinced me to join a club called The Explorers. It was for students interested in the medical field. They wanted kids to get an up close look at what working in the field of medicine was really like so they had us shadow real doctors and nurses at the local hospital. We even had our own lab coats. First day. Third floor. Very hot male nurse (remember I'm in ninth grade). First patient. My best friend is with me. We walk into a room with Mr. Nurse and there's an elderly woman in the bed sort of moaning. She's hooked up to all kinds of machines and an IV. My palms get a little sweaty. Remember up to this point I had never passed out before. I didn't know what it felt like. Mr. Nurse starts explaining as he is pulling back the blankets at the foot of the bed that the patient has gangrene in her foot. He reveals a massively swollen foot with black toes. I am so not kidding. The woman starts moaning louder. In my head I'm thinking how painful that must. . . whoops. . .next thing I know I am on a couch at the nurse's station with Mr. Nurse waving one of those smelling salts under my nose (what are those things anyway?). My friend told me later that I mumbled something and Mr. Nurse saw my knees buckling and caught me just in time before I fell. She said I was flirting. Sure. They called my mom to come pick me up and that was the end of that little club for me.

My other story is coming tomorrow and Kevin's story will be on Monday. I know you can't wait.

We are off tonight for a little mini getaway to Charleston and a beach near there. Fletcher is very excited. Can you tell?