Today is my birthday. I am 52. I should be smarter. I still watch those “Wanna Get Away” commercials, and I know that they are speaking directly to me. I try to justify my complete and utter lack of self-awareness with the thought that everyone needs a jester. Someone willing to put themselves out there to make others laugh… to make life light. Of course, the jester knows he is the jester. While I lack intent. 

So, this past weekend, we went with Tessa to Des Moines. She wanted to go to a seminar on how to get Into medical school at Trav’s alma mater. Since she was taking the MCATs for the second time Friday, Travis and I thought we would do the driving. For those that don’t know, the MCAT is a medical school entrance exam that takes nearly eight hours to complete. It’s a draining day, so we thought that maybe it was a bad idea for her to follow that with a six to seven hour drive. While she was at the seminar, Travis and I planned to catch up with some old neighbors and friends that we haven’t seen in years. It had been decades for a couple friends. I would have liked to visit with more people, but we only had a day.

One person that we saw was Julie, who became a friend when Travis realized that he was going to be an ob/gyn. If only we could revisit THAT moment. Anyway, she was a nurse for the ob that worked at the medical school. Travis rotated through their office numerous times. As part of our visit with Julie, we went to the old medical school campus to relive the glory days. It was all going so great, reminiscing and laughing. We laughed so hard, our stomachs were hurting. Then, the dean of the school spotted us as he walked out of his office. Clearly, we were not medical students, so he approached. We explained ourselves. Then, Travis started inquiring about long ago colleagues that passed through the OMM fellowship program with him and that he had heard were working at the school. Indeed, two of them still were working at the school. 

As Travis discussed these long ago friends, I recalled that one of the two may not have had such warm feelings for Travis. See, she had a pet rabbit, which she would put on her note pool pages. Note pool was a service that students could pay for. The school paid a student in each class to take notes. Those notes were copied and put into files for the students who paid to receive. Travis paid for note pool. Travis had friends that wrote notes too. He and his friends thought it would be funny to kill the rabbit in a cartoon strip on the note pool. The Bear Brothers were born. So, I interjected that maybe the one colleague may not have fond memories of the note pool shenanigans. To the dean, I stammered on about The Bear Brothers, who go alligator hunting with the previously mentioned rabbit as bait. The dean looked at me with concern, as if I was having a mental break. Travis did the same. Julie tried not to break out in laughter. Trying to redeem myself, I just dug myself in deeper and deeper. Honestly, if aliens could have zapped me from earth at that moment, I would have been thankful. 

At some point, I had the realization that I wasn’t going to be able to talk myself out of this ridiculous conversation I was having all by myself, so I just stopped talking. Normal conversation resumed with no need to acknowledge me or my apparent break from reality. Things could have closed out in a semi-normal manner, but at the last moment, I thought it would be polite to mention to the dean that he was hovering right on the edge of the curb, and to be careful. He looked at me with that look again, and said, “I know.” Trying to save myself yet again, I blurted that, “I would probably step off, turn my ankle, and end up in the ER.” I’m pretty sure he was ready to call an ambulance for me right then. I’m not even sure how that conversation concluded, but he ended up reaching past me to hand Travis his business card, while mentioning something about self-awareness. He left out that I should try it sometime. I would have wished that the earth would swallow me up right at that moment, but then he walked to his car, and it was over. So, I later advised Tessa that perhaps she didn’t want to attend the Des Moines school after all, although I doubt the dean has too much to do with admissions. 

So, I have to thank all my friends, and even my family, for putting up with me. I have come to realize that I am an embarrassment risk at all times. I’d like to think it’s endearing, but it’s not. I know that now. It only took 52 years to become just a little self-aware. Perhaps I can start living with intent now, but I doubt it. I try to tell myself that I loved my Mom’s silly side, and that’s all this is. But, somehow I got that gene in spades, and even Mom is cringing up there. 

Many thanks to Sudeep and Anushree, Jody and Wyatt, Julie, and Rob for visiting with us. It was great to see you all again! Somehow, I lack photos of Sudeep and Anushree.