Somewhere during the day, I developed a splitting headache, and now, sitting in traffic, I am ready to just go home and go to bed. I won’t, though, because in spite of the crappy day, we all have been looking forward to getting together tonight. Spending a little time with “the girls” always seems to perk me up.
There are seven of us in the group we generously call “the girls.” We all work at Riverdale General, and all of us are registered nurses. At 52, I am the oldest and live farthest from the hospital. My farm is about thirty-five miles outside of town, complete with dogs, cats, chickens, goats, three dairy cows, and four horses. I have a good-sized vegetable garden but I don’t grow any major crops.
Marcie is 49, and works as a floor nurse on the medical unit. She was my preceptor when I first came to Riverdale, and we quickly became best friends. Her husband Frank is a retired Marine and works as a deputy sheriff for the county. They live in a little cookie-cutter house about a block from the sheriff's office. Marcie has one daughter, Grace, and a sweet little granddaughter named Mandy who both live with Marcie and Frank.
Lisa Manzini is 34 and is the joker in our group. She is a circulating nurse in the operating room and is known for playing tricks on surgeons and staff alike. She has an infectious laugh that can be heard from great distances and keeps the rest of us laughing along with her. Lisa can make even the silliest joke funny, and she seems to always be happy. Her husband, Chuck, is the complete opposite – quiet, shy, and serious; he works in a gun store downtown and spends a lot of his off time studying various manuals and text books. He is planning to obtain his federal firearms license so he can one day open his own gun store. They have two sons, Jeremiah, 16, and Nathaniel, 14. Both boys are much more like their dad in temperament than their mother.
Maureen Flinn just turned 50 and works as a supervisor on the labor and delivery unit. She is a quiet, gentle person unless someone tries to take advantage of her staff, and then she turns into a pit bull. Even the doctors know they need to be good to Maureen’s nurses or else. She is married to Clark, who is a busy veterinarian, and has three daughters (Sarah, Phoebe, and Zoe) who all work with their father in his veterinary practice. Clark and Maureen are a cute couple. She is tall – statuesque is probably a better word – and looks like a Valkyrie with blonde hair and ice-blue eyes. Clark, on the other hand, is a bit shorter than Maureen and takes after his Japanese mother with dark hair and almond eyes.
Samantha Rivers is the girlie-girl of our group, and works in the Intensive Care Unit. Although her driver’s license says she is 42, she does not look a day over 29. Of course, she works hard to look that way, with her perfect make-up, carefully dyed blonde hair, and trim figure. She lives in an upscale condo near the hospital in an area nicknamed “Doctors’ Row”, and hob-nobs a lot with the doctors in her neighborhood. Don’t ever make the mistake of calling her Sam, as she will let you know in no uncertain terms her name is Samantha! Samantha has been divorced twice, and is looking for the perfect husband – preferably one with MD after his name.
Janet Livingstone is about the same age as Samantha, but is Samantha’s complete opposite. Where Samantha is petite and slender, Janet is tall and on the pudgy side with short gray-streaked brown hair. Janet is far happier in an old pair of jeans than all dressed up. She remarked often that she would stay a floor nurse on the medical surgical unit forever if it meant she could come to work all the time in scrubs and didn’t need to go through all of the prissy beauty routines that Samantha did every day. She is usually very soft-spoken, rather shy, and quiet. Her husband, Marty, is a carpenter, and they have two young boys, Samuel and Michael, who are anything but shy and quiet.
The newest member of our group is Patty Schmidt. Patty is a year younger than me, and, like me, is a very practical, logical person. She and her husband Bill moved to Riverdale a year ago when Bill got a new job on the Riverdale police force. While Marcie is my go-to person for having fun, keeping secrets, and talking about problems at home and work, Patty is my go-to person for having a serious conversation about current events or politics. I really enjoy Patty’s perspective, her well-thought-out discussions, and her ability to have a discussion without having an argument. I often look for her at lunch time at work, just so we can eat together and have a good conversation. She works on Med Surg with Janet and Marcie, but hopes to eventually teach nursing in the local community college when she finishes her online Master’s program. She has one son who is a career Army officer. He is the light of her life, and she often entertains us by sharing some of his adventures.
Finally traffic cleared enough that I could pick up a little speed. I pulled into the pizza parlor parking lot and was surprised to be able to find a parking space fairly close to the front. The pizza parlor was crowded and noisy, and every table was full when I finally walked through the front door. I found the girls at a table in the back corner, laughing and cutting up as always. Watching my friends as I waded through the crowd, I had to smile. Naturally, Lisa was the loudest at the table, and even across the restaurant, I could hear her loud, characteristic laugh. They must have ordered right after I talked to Marcie, because as I walked up to the table, the waitress was delivering several steaming hot pizzas. I pulled up a chair and sat down, grabbing a slice of my favorite sausage and extra cheese as I sat.
“Hi, guys! I’m sorry I’m late. Today was the day from Hades, with tons of rotten things going on. And, to top off my day, I was all set to leave, but I got stuck meeting with Dr. Nolan, who – as usual – had complaints about the nurses… again.”
“That’s what happens when you decide to leave the trenches and go management on us,” laughed Marcie. “If you were still a floor nurse like some of us, you could have just sent him on to someone else and left at the end of your shift!”
Laughing, I told her that being an educator was hardly management, although a lot of managerial functions did get delegated to us. I looked around the table at my friends. I have worked with most of these ladies for last twelve years at the hospital, and realized how happy I am to have their friendship. I thought back to my arrival in Riverdale twelve years ago. I was such a mess then, and it is a wonder that any of them even were willing to talk to me, let alone over time become dear friends. I know I drove Marcie nuts as she was showing me the ropes. I was used to the order and structure of the military – and to being in charge – and as a result, I had a hard time learning how civilians did things. Once I finally relaxed, though, Marcie became my best friend. Well, at the time, my only friend! She went out of her way, though, to introduce me to others, and our little group was born.
“Denise, are you still with us?” Maureen asked. “You were a million miles away just now! Were you daydreaming about the wonderful Dr. Nolan or something?” Everyone at the table laughed. Dr. Nolan, in addition to being very married, was also at least seventy years old, bald, short, and hardly the stuff of daydreams.
I chuckled, and replied, “No, Dr. Nolan is about the last person I’d be daydreaming about after our conversation this evening! He just does not understand that the role of nurses has changed since he was a young doctor and the nurses would worship at his feet! But, it’s Friday night, and I am on vacation for the next three weeks, so why are we talking about Dr. Nolan?”
“I am really happy you are finally taking some time off,” said Lisa. “You are starting to get a little cranky, and some rest will do you good!”
I started to laugh. “I’m not sure how much rest I’ll get, since there are so many things that need doing on the farm! Of course, if any of you want to give up your days off and come over to help, I’m sure I can keep you busy!”
The group around the table started laughing and soon the topic of conversation moved to other things. Patty passed around a cell phone picture of her son. “He was just promoted to Captain. I think he looks good in his dress uniform!”
“Where is he stationed right now, Patty?” asked Maureen.
“He just finished some training wit
h his team, and they are supposed to be headed to Germany. He said they would only be there a few weeks, and then they would be off on a mission somewhere. He is hoping to come home on leave sometime after the first of the year.” As the phone was passed to me, I looked at the picture. Captain Mark Schmidt was a very handsome young man, attired in his dress uniform. I noted the tan beret and the Ranger tab on his uniform – that certainly explained a lot about his many unusual deployments. I smiled at Patty and passed the phone back to her.
“So what is everyone doing this weekend?” asked Patty.
“Samantha and I are going shooting on Saturday,” said Lisa. “Anyone want to come with us?” We all looked at Lisa in surprise.
“Yes, Lisa is going to let me finally try out her new AK-99 gun with the folding stocking thingie, and I am just so excited!” Samantha said in a make-believe bored voice, rolling her eyes. Everyone around the table laughed, because they all knew Samantha hated shooting and would rather do just about anything than go to the range. “Actually,” Samantha said, “I am going to town for a spa day – massage, manicure, pedicure, and all. I’ll be so relaxed when I get back to work Monday you all might have to retrain me!”
The rest of the girls rolled their eyes, and Janet (who was usually the quiet one) blurted out, “Samantha, you have to be retrained EVERY Monday!” As the laughter around the table increased, Samantha reached over and swatted Janet on the arm. “Just for that, I am going to volunteer you to go over to Denise’s farm and muck out the barn or something!”
“Is that something you need help with Denise? I’m happy to come over and help if you need it,” answered Janet. I told her that as much as I would enjoy the company and that she was always welcome to come visit, I wouldn’t ask anyone to clean up after my goats and chickens. I really loved Janet’s quiet sincerity and desire to help others, but I was not about to take advantage of that willingness!
“Let me know if you need help, Denise. I don’t know anything about farms, but I always wanted to learn more about taking care of animals, especially chickens! I just think chickens are cute!” I told Janet to feel free to come over any time and I would happily introduce her to my chicken harem. Janet clapped her hands like a little girl, showing her excitement. I hope she still feels that way when she gets to smell inside the chicken coop!
“Well”, Lisa said, “I really am planning to go to the range tomorrow with Chuck. Patty, do you and Bill want to come?”
“No, we’re going to go car shopping”, answered Patty Schmidt, “Although if Bill insists on getting a king cab pickup instead of a four door car like I want, there may be some shooting at the car lot!”
“How about you, Denise?”
“I’ll be working on the house construction this weekend- I’m meeting with the contractor tomorrow to go over some problems he found and some changes the boys would like made,” I answered.
“Denise, your sons are lucky to have you adding onto your house to give them both homes” said Marcie.
I explained it was part of my grandparents’ wishes that the boys had homes on the farm, even if they chose not to live there full time. Grandma and Grandpa put aside money to build two houses, but the boys decided that instead of two separate houses, they each wanted a wing added onto my house. That way, they would have private living space, but it would still be all connected as one really big house. I think part of their reason for wanting to be connected was we are still a close and happy family, even though the boys are both grown and married. I think the idea of a live-in baby sitter for future kids also might have played a role! Whatever their reasons, I am happy that we are finally getting it done! I asked Marcie if she and Frank wanted to come over tomorrow to see what we’ve done thus far. I told her the boys are both supposed to be coming over at some point tomorrow, so I knew I’d be home all day. I invited them to stay for dinner. After all, I'm not sure how long the kids will be there, so the company would be nice.
“I’ll see what Frank has planned. It would be nice to get out of town for a few hours and see what you’ve been up to!”
“Good! I am excited for you to see how much progress we’ve made thus far. Janet, if you and Marty and the boys want to come over, too, I am happy to introduce you to my chickens!”
“Oh, that would be a lot of fun!” Janet answered. “Let me talk to Marty, and I’ll call you in the morning.”
After we spent time catching up on everyone’s lives for the last few weeks since our last get-together, I looked at my watch and realized it was getting late. I have a 50-minute drive to get to the farm on winding back roads, and since it was starting to rain, I said my goodbyes and left.
The drive home was uneventful in spite of the light rain coming down, and my mind began drifting to the boys and the new construction. I call them boys, but both are grown men. Christopher, my older son by fourteen minutes, is the manager for Ernie’s Sports and Outdoor World store in Riverdale. After doing two years in college for a business degree, he decided college was not for him. He had been working at Ernie’s since he was in high school, and moving into management at Ernie’s was a natural move for him to make. Chris is my serious child, very conservative, and always talking about planning for the future. Last year he got married, and he and his wife Stacy are expecting their first child in late November. Great daughters-in-law are hard to find, and Stacy is wonderful! She is a stay-at-home wife who loves to cook, clean, sew, and do all sorts of housewifely things. They currently live in a small apartment in Riverdale and can’t wait to be able to move into their own home permanently. Jonathan, my other son, is as different from his twin in personality as he is in looks. While Chris is average height and blond with green eyes, Jon is tall and has his father’s dark hair and eyes. He chose not to go to college, but instead was following his dream of being a musician. No matter how much I tried to convince him to go to college and study music, he was adamant. He took music lessons through high school for piano, drums, and guitar, and for a short while played with a band. Although he is a very talented showman, his real passion is writing music. At present, he is a salesman for Music City, a music store in Riverdale. It works for him, as he is able to demonstrate the instruments he sells, and it gives him lots of time to work on his music writing. He married Gabriella DeVeaux two years ago. Gabby works at Pierre’s Patisserie, one of the most popular bakery-coffee shops in town. Gabby’s father was a French diplomat to the United States and met her mother in New York City. Gabby was raised speaking English and French and as a child spent her summers in Paris with her grandparents. After she finished high school, she spent a year in Paris at the Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute, learning to be a pastry chef. She settled in Riverdale when Pierre, an old friend of her father’s, recruited her for his Patisserie. She and Jon live in an apartment a few miles from the bakery. She was really shy when I first met her, but over time she has opened up and is a wonderful daughter-in-law. She and Jon plan for now to stay in the apartment and come to the house on the farm on weekends. I know that is convenient for them, but who would want to live in an apartment in the city when they have a beautiful place in the country! Is it obvious I really want my sons to live close by? I try hard not to interfere in their lives or to be the nightmare mother-in-law, but the truth is that both of my boys are interesting, intelligent people with whom I really enjoy spending time – and Stacy and Gabby are both everything a mother could ever desire for her sons. They are both a lot of fun to be around, too. I am very blessed to have such a good relationship with both of my kids and their wives.
I am also very blessed to have the farm. It was originally quite a bit larger, but my grandparents sold off parcels here and there over the years. Still, with 737 acres, I have plenty of space. Much of the land is heavily wooded, with numerous open rolling fields and a large stocked pond. The main driveway is almost three-quarters of a mile of winding dirt road. My house is the original homestead and is located towards the front of the property on a small hill, with a large barn
out behind the six-bedroom home. Grandma and Grandpa did not have any animals except a pair of cats when we moved back, but a few years ago I got some chickens and two goats. Four rescue horses and three dairy cows soon followed. Don’t ask me why, but I just felt a compelling need to have some animals running around. I guess that’s why I also have three dogs. All three were rescue dogs. When we first moved back to the farm, I got two male puppies for the boys, which they named Frick and Frack. A few days after I got them, I got a call from the shelter that another one of their litter was available and would have to be put down if not adopted soon. I couldn’t let that happen, so Emmaline joined her brothers. My two elderly cats, Rhett and Scarlet, originally belonged to my grandparents. Not only are they spoiled rotten, but they believe the household revolves around them. I get a kick out of how all three dogs act like they are scared of the cats, even though both cats are really very gentle. Of course, the cats know they are royalty, and act it!
In addition to the barn, the farm also has a number of outbuildings for storing tractors, garden tools, and other stuff. My grandfather was pretty handy and built a very nice workshop out near the barn. While I enjoy tackling the occasional carpentry project, I usually don’t have a lot of time for that. I’m sure there are tools out there that I don’t even know I have, since I don’t get to spend much time in the workshop. I have gone through a few of the outbuildings, but there are still a few buildings that I have no idea what they hold, and a couple that I know are full of junk.
Premonitions (Book 1): The Farm Page 2