After five years, Estrella convinces the doctor that it is time for him to bring in a junior doctor. She handles all of the applications and decides which ones the doctor should interview. Estrella’s standards are high, and the doctor interviews only two applicants. Dr. Emily Mayfield makes a good first impression in her crisply ironed khaki pants and buttoned-down plaid shirt. So much better than the young male applicant in his Bermuda shorts and flip-flops. Estrella also notices how Dr. Emily is chatting with the clients in the waiting room. It is with a sly smile that she announces Dr. Mayfield. The interview goes exceedingly well. Doc asks the young woman how she would handle the case of the incontinent German Shepard Dog. He asks her opinion on the care of other patients as well.
Emily has practiced at the clinic for twelve years when Doc announces he is ready to retire. For her 40th birthday, Emily’s gift to herself is going into debt to buy Doc’s practice and the clinic. Doc’s gift to Emily is a forty-foot sign announcing Mayfield Veterinary Clinic, and matching letterhead. Estrella has already filed the appropriate paperwork with the licensing agencies.
Emily would not dream of continuing the clinic without Estrella — she can’t imagine what chaos would prevail. Estrella is open and sharing and unabashedly caring. Estrella and Emily are colleagues and friends. The de Ramón family considers Emily one of their own, and Emily’s brothers “adopt” the de Ramón family en toto.
Recently Dr. M has spoken of getting another intern. Perhaps this time the intern will want to stay in Clearwater and become Dr. M’s junior doctor. But, to her horror, before Estrella can contact the vet school for recommendations, The Right Reverend Stuart MacGregor asks a very special favor from Dr. M. Now Estrella must use all of her talents to keep the peace within her ‘work’ family, and Estrella knows that family can always make it work.
(This completes Estrella de Ramón.)
(Stay tuned for A. Michael Kendrick, DVM, AKA the junior doctor.)
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Estrella part 5: Getting Real
Estrella’s sister Josie shows up in Tampa in the middle of the week, calls Estrella at work and invites her to lunch. When they meet, Josie is shocked at the difference in her sister: the “straight” Estrella is someone Josie has never seen before, and she is scared at the sight. Josie tells Estrella that she has just gotten a new job in Tampa and will be in town during the weekend; can she stay with Estrella? In her beloved little home, Estrella is herself, cooking for Josie, joking, padding about barefoot with her hair a black nimbus about her face. Josie keeps Estrella talking—talking during dinner, talking over coffee, talking over dessert, talking over popcorn, talking over bagels and slightly hardened cream cheese, talking over scrambled eggs, talking over ice cream, talking the sun up. By dawn, the sisters have seen each other, and themselves, clearly and honestly. Estrella is back. They fall into bed, wake at noon and go get a Sunday paper. They have to go out anyway for breakfast, because there is no food left in the refrigerator. Sunday afternoon is spent writing letters of introduction to various employment ads in the paper—for Estrella.
On Monday morning Estrella invites Lawrence James the man with two first names (she will never be able to think of him any other way) to lunch and breaks off their engagement. On Wednesday she receives a phone call from a veterinarian in Clearwater: His wife has always managed his office, but now wants to quit working at the office and spend time with the grandchildren; would Estrella come talk with him about working as his receptionist/bookkeeper/office manager? On Friday Estrella hands in her resignation at the insurance company. On Saturday she rents her beloved house to Josie. On Sunday she takes a spacious apartment (Okay, as spacious as Clearwater has to offer) and buys new dishes. Two weeks later the family helps Estrella move out and Josie move in.
This is her third job, and third time is a charm. Estrella is amazing. She organizes the office, the clients, and the doctor. She charms the vendors (sometimes out of their socks—but never at work); she calms the anxious clients and is particularly good with people who have lost their animal companions. And the doctor is just one more brother to take care of. The doctor’s wife adores her. Thanks to Estrella, the doctor’s wife finally has a life of her own, just in time to be a happy grandma. Estrella is the heart of the clinic. And there she remains, flirting, organizing, soothing, nurturing, and advising.
(continued)
On Monday morning Estrella invites Lawrence James the man with two first names (she will never be able to think of him any other way) to lunch and breaks off their engagement. On Wednesday she receives a phone call from a veterinarian in Clearwater: His wife has always managed his office, but now wants to quit working at the office and spend time with the grandchildren; would Estrella come talk with him about working as his receptionist/bookkeeper/office manager? On Friday Estrella hands in her resignation at the insurance company. On Saturday she rents her beloved house to Josie. On Sunday she takes a spacious apartment (Okay, as spacious as Clearwater has to offer) and buys new dishes. Two weeks later the family helps Estrella move out and Josie move in.
This is her third job, and third time is a charm. Estrella is amazing. She organizes the office, the clients, and the doctor. She charms the vendors (sometimes out of their socks—but never at work); she calms the anxious clients and is particularly good with people who have lost their animal companions. And the doctor is just one more brother to take care of. The doctor’s wife adores her. Thanks to Estrella, the doctor’s wife finally has a life of her own, just in time to be a happy grandma. Estrella is the heart of the clinic. And there she remains, flirting, organizing, soothing, nurturing, and advising.
(continued)
Friday, March 26, 2010
Estrella de Ramon, part 4: Straightlaced
A sponsor, an insurance company, hires Estrella away from the radio station with big bucks and the promise of excitement. She gets the big bucks. Her savings grow until they produce a down payment for a little house close to her parents, but not too close. She gets up in the morning and smiles as she makes coffee in her own little kitchen. She laughs as she feeds her cats in the kitchen and birds at the bird feeder. She sings as she showers in her tiny bathroom. She scowls as she stuffs her body into pantyhose and suits. She checks hems and hairlines for neatness. Her hair is gathered behind her where it will not interfere with her deskwork.
She says good-bye to her beloved house and goes to work in the building where offices are either austere or overly opulent. She shares space with seven other women, all working at desks with adding machines and ledger sheets. She meets men: insurance executives. They are either austere or overly slick.
And she meets Lawrence. Lawrence James, the man with two first names. Estrella tries to call him Larry, once. He drives a Cadillac. He takes her to fine restaurants, concerts, and to places where he can pass out his business card to all the “right” people, people with new money. He takes her home to meet his mother and proposes marriage when Mother obviously approves of his choice. Estrella says yes, but she does not take him home to meet her mother because there is a crucifix over the dining room table. She tells herself it is religion, but she does not want to admit to herself that there is no one in her family that Lawrence James will give his business card to, not one person. Lawrence is Episcopalian, and he will not convert to Catholicism.
(continued)
She says good-bye to her beloved house and goes to work in the building where offices are either austere or overly opulent. She shares space with seven other women, all working at desks with adding machines and ledger sheets. She meets men: insurance executives. They are either austere or overly slick.
And she meets Lawrence. Lawrence James, the man with two first names. Estrella tries to call him Larry, once. He drives a Cadillac. He takes her to fine restaurants, concerts, and to places where he can pass out his business card to all the “right” people, people with new money. He takes her home to meet his mother and proposes marriage when Mother obviously approves of his choice. Estrella says yes, but she does not take him home to meet her mother because there is a crucifix over the dining room table. She tells herself it is religion, but she does not want to admit to herself that there is no one in her family that Lawrence James will give his business card to, not one person. Lawrence is Episcopalian, and he will not convert to Catholicism.
(continued)
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Estrella de Ramon, part 3: Into the World
Estrella is a good student, not straight A, but a strong B. Her best subjects are literature, history, and geography. She hates PE; it gets her sweaty and messes up her hair. She is never the last one chosen for a team. She is good enough at math and hates biology. She takes the business courses and goes on to business school after high school graduation. She now laughs about being the only girl who dated both the captain of the football team, the president of the Key club, and the president of the National Honor Society. She went steady with two of the three—for a little while at the same time.
She has her first hangover when she goes to sign up for her courses at the School of Business. The thought of typing is too painful so she opts for bookkeeping, for which she discovers, to her surprise, she has a real talent. Meanwhile, she longs for a place of her own. Estrella is 18, and she wants to be on her own.
Her dedication to school has never been so complete. She learns everything. This is the year that will open all the doors for her. She graduates first in her class with great recommendations from her teachers and three inviting offers of employment.
She takes the job with the radio station. She is pert, pretty, and very good at her job. She is the visual front for the invisible talent in the ‘back room’. She is the face to the public for the station. She talks with sponsors; they adore her. She discovers how much of herself responds to the “creatives” and their off-center ways. She loves getting up and going to work each day; it is always an adventure in lunacy. Still she longs for a place of her own, but her savings are not growing rapidly enough to suit the young and eager Estrella.
(continued)
She has her first hangover when she goes to sign up for her courses at the School of Business. The thought of typing is too painful so she opts for bookkeeping, for which she discovers, to her surprise, she has a real talent. Meanwhile, she longs for a place of her own. Estrella is 18, and she wants to be on her own.
Her dedication to school has never been so complete. She learns everything. This is the year that will open all the doors for her. She graduates first in her class with great recommendations from her teachers and three inviting offers of employment.
She takes the job with the radio station. She is pert, pretty, and very good at her job. She is the visual front for the invisible talent in the ‘back room’. She is the face to the public for the station. She talks with sponsors; they adore her. She discovers how much of herself responds to the “creatives” and their off-center ways. She loves getting up and going to work each day; it is always an adventure in lunacy. Still she longs for a place of her own, but her savings are not growing rapidly enough to suit the young and eager Estrella.
(continued)
Monday, March 22, 2010
Estrella, part 2: Family Undivided
Estrella’s sister, Josefina, aka Josie, becomes an anti-war protestor after Roberto’s death. Maria, the oldest daughter, tries to persuade Josie not to do this. Maria says that Josie’s protesting dishonors their father and their oldest brother and the memory of their dead brother Roberto. Josie’s response is that war is the killer, not protesters. It is war that is wrong, and her hope is that by protesting maybe she and her peers can prevent other needless deaths.
The family is split apart. Mamá and Papá are having enough trouble dealing with their grief over Roberto’s death, and now this war over the war is tearing their family to tatters. They declare the subject of the war taboo inside the walls of their home. Standing firmly together, the parents announce that they will not try to dictate how any of their children will think or how they will live their lives, (as long as they are good and faithful Catholics, of course) but within the walls of the de Ramón house there will be no war. Period. The declaration is accepted by all. The antagonists are outwardly resentful of this declaration of peace, but inwardly relieved.
Estrella sees the anguish in her mother as Mamacita observes the walls of silence developing at the dinner table and across and between her older children in all their interactions.
Estrella cannot stand the silences. She becomes an expert at making them talk -- talk of daily encounters and ideas and hopes and feelings -- without rancor. She has enabled them to remove the sting of talk, and they replace that with their love for each other as family. Estrella has found the gift of her life, the gift of opening communication. Not so many years later, Estrella finds that it is also the sexiest of gifts. All the boys will want to “talk” with Estrella.
(continued)
The family is split apart. Mamá and Papá are having enough trouble dealing with their grief over Roberto’s death, and now this war over the war is tearing their family to tatters. They declare the subject of the war taboo inside the walls of their home. Standing firmly together, the parents announce that they will not try to dictate how any of their children will think or how they will live their lives, (as long as they are good and faithful Catholics, of course) but within the walls of the de Ramón house there will be no war. Period. The declaration is accepted by all. The antagonists are outwardly resentful of this declaration of peace, but inwardly relieved.
Estrella sees the anguish in her mother as Mamacita observes the walls of silence developing at the dinner table and across and between her older children in all their interactions.
Estrella cannot stand the silences. She becomes an expert at making them talk -- talk of daily encounters and ideas and hopes and feelings -- without rancor. She has enabled them to remove the sting of talk, and they replace that with their love for each other as family. Estrella has found the gift of her life, the gift of opening communication. Not so many years later, Estrella finds that it is also the sexiest of gifts. All the boys will want to “talk” with Estrella.
(continued)
Friday, March 19, 2010
Estrella Angelita Maria de Ramón, part 1
Estrella Angelita Maria de Ramón is a native of Florida. She’s Catholic by upbringing, and hedonist by practice. She is the ninth of thirteen children, and the only one, she will tell you, who got a really good name.
At 55, she is a cross between Lady Gaga and Beyoncé: flamboyant and terribly sexy.
Her father worked in pest control. Her mother worked as the alterations tailor for an upscale department store in Tampa. The de Ramon children have all finished high school, a major accomplishment for a Spanish American family of their generation. Two of the boys and three of the girls finished college as well. Of the thirteen children, there is no thirteenth child. Mama has a baker’s dozen. Of the twins, she refers to them as girl-twelve and boy-twelve. The boy-twelve, the one they owed to the church: he’s a priest. He’s not a particularly happy priest, what with the de Ramon hormones and all, but he’s still a priest.
Estrella’s oldest brother, Ramon, goes to Viet Nam when Estrella is four years old. He serves his two-year term and comes home again to finish his tour of duty in Tampa. Ramon comes home wounded in spirit and deeply bitter. He goes to work with his father in pest control. Ramon the elder thinks of pest control as a service to help brothers and sisters live better. Ramon the younger thinks of pest control as committing never-ending murder—-the only job he thinks he is fit to do.
When brother Roberto signs up to go to Viet Nam, the family is proud to send him off to fight for their country. But Roberto doesn’t come home. He’s killed by a mortar blast at the ripe old age of eighteen. He had been in Viet Nam for two weeks. Ramon’s bitterness reaches a new depth, and his parents fear for his life as well. His mother goes to six o’clock mass every day for four months. Finally, one day Ramon tells his mother that Roberto was the lucky one. His mother slaps him across the face, telling him, “You are the lucky one. You can see the sunrise. You can eat with your brothers and sisters. You feel the rain on your face. Your brother feels nothing. Nothing. Not even the bitterness you hold on to so hard.” His mother’s action shocks Ramon into deciding to keep on and to feel the rain.
(continued)
At 55, she is a cross between Lady Gaga and Beyoncé: flamboyant and terribly sexy.
Her father worked in pest control. Her mother worked as the alterations tailor for an upscale department store in Tampa. The de Ramon children have all finished high school, a major accomplishment for a Spanish American family of their generation. Two of the boys and three of the girls finished college as well. Of the thirteen children, there is no thirteenth child. Mama has a baker’s dozen. Of the twins, she refers to them as girl-twelve and boy-twelve. The boy-twelve, the one they owed to the church: he’s a priest. He’s not a particularly happy priest, what with the de Ramon hormones and all, but he’s still a priest.
Estrella’s oldest brother, Ramon, goes to Viet Nam when Estrella is four years old. He serves his two-year term and comes home again to finish his tour of duty in Tampa. Ramon comes home wounded in spirit and deeply bitter. He goes to work with his father in pest control. Ramon the elder thinks of pest control as a service to help brothers and sisters live better. Ramon the younger thinks of pest control as committing never-ending murder—-the only job he thinks he is fit to do.
When brother Roberto signs up to go to Viet Nam, the family is proud to send him off to fight for their country. But Roberto doesn’t come home. He’s killed by a mortar blast at the ripe old age of eighteen. He had been in Viet Nam for two weeks. Ramon’s bitterness reaches a new depth, and his parents fear for his life as well. His mother goes to six o’clock mass every day for four months. Finally, one day Ramon tells his mother that Roberto was the lucky one. His mother slaps him across the face, telling him, “You are the lucky one. You can see the sunrise. You can eat with your brothers and sisters. You feel the rain on your face. Your brother feels nothing. Nothing. Not even the bitterness you hold on to so hard.” His mother’s action shocks Ramon into deciding to keep on and to feel the rain.
(continued)
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Emily Mayfield, part 15: Life
A year after their first date and five months before their wedding, Steve dies from an aneurysm. There were no symptoms, no warnings, no history. Just death, instant and painless …. for Steve.
Emily moves through the funeral and her finals in complete shock. She misses the spring altogether. But summer’s heat breaks the shock and releases her rage. For the second time in her life she has loved with all her heart, and for the second time in her life that love has been grabbed away from her by God. Her anger is debilitating. Suzanna, worried for her daughter’s life and sanity, calls Stuart.
Stuart journeys to Hawthorne to spend a long and difficult week with the Mayfields. When Emily sees him for the first time wearing a priest’s collar, she goes ballistic. Suzanna uses all her maternal power to force Emily to stay in the room and talk with Stuart. They spend six days and six nights talking, Emily railing against God, Stuart listening and accepting and guiding her through her pain to some resolution. By the end of the week, Stuart’s gift to Emily is helping her commit to keep on living, and to make a life for herself. The week’s gift to Stuart is a realization of the limits of his power, the knowledge that he cannot fix life for people. He can listen and console, but he can’t fix it. Not for anyone, and not ever. That knowledge is the foundation of his worth as a priest/counselor.
Emily finishes vet school and accepts a job as assistant vet in a private practice in Clearwater, Florida. She stays there as assistant for six years. When the senior vet retires, Emily buys out his practice and renames the facility Mayfield Veterinarian Hospital.
Emily honors the lessons she learned from Stuart and Steve: the delights of the body, the deliciousness of life on this planet, the value of play. She has men friends and women friends. The men she dates and beds and keeps at a comfortable distance. The women she feeds (Suzanna’s heritage) and shares hopes and jokes with. But her life is shared with her four-legged companions. They are her partners.
At 52, Emily is ready for a bit more of the playing and deliciousness. That’s why she advertised for an assistant. But Stuart has a nephew who just graduated from vet school at Tufts University in Medford, MA, (Boston). And for reasons that Stuart won’t go into, the nephew needs a job. Really. Stuart has never asked Emily for a favor, but he asks for one now: hire his nephew for one year (four seasons). Emily agrees reluctantly, but with her own proviso: if the nephew in any way endangers a patient or compromises Emily’s practice, Emily can and will dismiss him on the spot.
Deal.
(This completes Emily Mayfield, DVM.)
(Stay tuned for Mayfield Animal Hospital’s peerless receptionist, Estrella Angelita Maria de Ramon)
Emily moves through the funeral and her finals in complete shock. She misses the spring altogether. But summer’s heat breaks the shock and releases her rage. For the second time in her life she has loved with all her heart, and for the second time in her life that love has been grabbed away from her by God. Her anger is debilitating. Suzanna, worried for her daughter’s life and sanity, calls Stuart.
Stuart journeys to Hawthorne to spend a long and difficult week with the Mayfields. When Emily sees him for the first time wearing a priest’s collar, she goes ballistic. Suzanna uses all her maternal power to force Emily to stay in the room and talk with Stuart. They spend six days and six nights talking, Emily railing against God, Stuart listening and accepting and guiding her through her pain to some resolution. By the end of the week, Stuart’s gift to Emily is helping her commit to keep on living, and to make a life for herself. The week’s gift to Stuart is a realization of the limits of his power, the knowledge that he cannot fix life for people. He can listen and console, but he can’t fix it. Not for anyone, and not ever. That knowledge is the foundation of his worth as a priest/counselor.
Emily finishes vet school and accepts a job as assistant vet in a private practice in Clearwater, Florida. She stays there as assistant for six years. When the senior vet retires, Emily buys out his practice and renames the facility Mayfield Veterinarian Hospital.
Emily honors the lessons she learned from Stuart and Steve: the delights of the body, the deliciousness of life on this planet, the value of play. She has men friends and women friends. The men she dates and beds and keeps at a comfortable distance. The women she feeds (Suzanna’s heritage) and shares hopes and jokes with. But her life is shared with her four-legged companions. They are her partners.
At 52, Emily is ready for a bit more of the playing and deliciousness. That’s why she advertised for an assistant. But Stuart has a nephew who just graduated from vet school at Tufts University in Medford, MA, (Boston). And for reasons that Stuart won’t go into, the nephew needs a job. Really. Stuart has never asked Emily for a favor, but he asks for one now: hire his nephew for one year (four seasons). Emily agrees reluctantly, but with her own proviso: if the nephew in any way endangers a patient or compromises Emily’s practice, Emily can and will dismiss him on the spot.
Deal.
(This completes Emily Mayfield, DVM.)
(Stay tuned for Mayfield Animal Hospital’s peerless receptionist, Estrella Angelita Maria de Ramon)
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