HEY, LANCASTER! I'M BACK!

In 1968, at the ripe old age of nineteen, after two semesters I flunked out of what was then Shippensburg State College. There was no mystery—I didn’t study and had lots of fun.  I’d tagged along with my parents that year when they moved to Pennsylvania, transferring from a junior college in Kansas. After growing up in the Midwest I was excited for a new adventure. But not this.

Trying to figure out what was next, I worked as a nurse’s aide that summer of discontent in the baby ward at the Pennsylvania State Hospital for Crippled Children in Elizabethtown.

Pennsylvania State Hospital for Crippled Children

I met two amazing technologists in the radiology department and was impressed by their compassion and skill working with challenging, very small patients in casts and wheelchairs.  I knew I didn’t have the patience to be a nurse. I liked the idea of helping people and loved photography. Maybe taking x-rays was the answer!

I decided to enroll in the School of Radiologic Technology at Lancaster General Hospital.  I loved the looks of the charming old artsy town—plus there was an all-male college there.

Our class was small and the female students were housed with the nursing students in the dorm on Lime Street.

I lived on the second floor.

The program was rigorous. After classes we worked in the Radiology Department, learning to x-ray all parts of the body, doing fluoroscopy exams like barium enemas, plus taking films in the operating room and processing them  for the surgeons to inspect (no digital film back then). Not to mention taking overnight call where we dealt with drunks, all the assorted injuries that inevitably occur after midnight, and even sometimes Amish buggy accidents which many times had tragic results.

The hard-working class of 1970

I was proud of myself! The flunk-out had reformed! I was maturing, wasn’t I? Though high jinks sometimes happened in the dorm.

I still don't know how that umbrella got there!

Then I heard about the mixer. The Student Nurses Association was hosting a party for Franklin & Marshall College boys. X-ray students were not invited!

Well!  I convinced a fellow student to crash the party with me. We deserved to be there. We were cute!

A boy asked me to dance and a bold sophomore student named Paul edged in and told me not to.  I didn’t dance with either of them but ended up spending the rest of the evening with Paul.  I even kissed him goodnight.

Sophomore Paul

The romance began.  We walked miles down James Street—back and forth on our dates (no car). I even watched him play soccer for F&M. He was a very attractive goalie.

We got married half-way through Paul’s senior year. After college we left Lancaster, I thought for good. We moved to Dallas, Texas, where Paul attended Southern Methodist University School of Law on a full scholarship. I worked in Nuclear Medicine and regular x-ray—sometimes taking pictures of Dallas Cowboys! Feeling sad about not finishing college, I attempted to self-educate by reading classic literature and taking artsy photos and processing them in my bathroom darkroom.

The Texas Two

After law school we moved to Washington, D.C. Paul worked at the Department of Justice and then taught law at American University Washington School of Law.  I worked part-time in x-ray and took college classes when I could. We raised a son and daughter and loved five dogs.  I’d always enjoyed writing and, after I won a major photography  contest, had the courage to pursue my writing career at age 42. At age 53 I finally graduated cum laude from Mount Holyoke College with a degree in American Studies. Just to show it’s never too late to follow your dreams.

Paul graduating from college in 1971, Marty 32 years later!

Now, after 53 years of marriage and five wonderful grandchildren, we are both partially retired although Paul will commute and teach fall semester at American and I am working on my 18^th book about a heroic athlete who ran in the 1936 Olympics. We are thrilled to be back in Lancaster and enjoying our home at the wonderful Willow Valley Communities with our Samoyed dog, Emily. Returning to Pennsylvania Dutch Country is adding the other bookend of our life together.

Here we are at our home in Willow Valley Communities with one of our delightful grandchildren and Emily our Samoyed.

Hey, Lancaster! I’m so glad that I’ve come back to make more wonderful memories.But I will certainly behave the next time I set foot in that hospital!