coffee for the apocalypse

I trained as a medical assistant and worked in a doctor’s office for almost a year and a half. I have thought about becoming a nurse when I go back to school but I haven’t locked it down yet. I still have at least another year before my youngest would be in school long enough for me to attend my own classes. With that background, I love any and all medical books- new and old.

I also thought this would be an appropriate kick off to the final 10 days before Halloween 2019. I am Queen Halloween and my husband is Father Christmas. We meet in the middle for Thanksgiving.

As with many older text books its cover is pretty plain but the spine has some nice flourishes on it. This book belonged to my paternal grandmother Linda Avin, who was a nurse during the Korean War. She met my grandfather Lynnwood when she was treating him for wounds and they married, settled in South Carolina, and had three kids together. They were together until his death in 2004. She passed a few years later.

This book, as you can see, was first written in 1893 and updated many times before this edition was published in 1944. I noticed that the copyright does not allow for reproduction in forms other than “magazine or newspaper.”. I hope that the Kimbers or the Macmillan Co don’t mind too terribly much that I have posted it on a blog, the idea of which no one could have imagined when the text was originally copyrighted.

No one can know how many students used this book. Many of the notes in the margins throughout the pages are in beautiful cursive. Then there are some that I can’t help but wonder about like the Mr. Tader/Mr. Taber written on the edge of this chapter overview.

As a funny aside while talking about Halloween and spookiness- When I opened this book to look at it and take pictures I found a paper inside. The book usually rests on my top shelf and I haven’t read it in a while. I opened the paper and it was a letter from my maternal grandmother.

It reads “Hi, Dollbaby, Surprised to get a letter from me?”

Uh, abso-freakin’-lutely I was surprised because Mema has been dead for 12 years…dun, dun, dun. Obviously it was a letter she wrote me when I was little and I tucked it away for safe keeping and then forgot about it. Still, it gave me a little smile.