I was more of a Donna Parker gal and loved Donna Parker in Hollywood! But I did read Cherry Ames, Student Nurse. Cherry Ames always reminds me of my Mom, Norma Jean who was a Cadet Nurse. That's the Cadet Nurse insignia on the sleeve of her "whites". From the Cadet Nurse website: Many parents worried that the training in nursing schools and nurse duties might expose their daughters to infectious diseases, unsafe conditions, and unsupervised proximity to men.
Pondering that must be why these two look so serious.
That's Mom (front) sitting on the steps of the "Nurses' Home" with her best friend. They must have been 19 or 20 at the time.
The war ended before she finished her training (she's a "Mercy Grad" Portsmouth OH) so she never served in the Army but she went on to work for many years as an RN, retiring in 1979.
You make me proud, Mom!
Judy
6 comments:
How neat. The Cherry Ames' series talked about the cadet's uniforms being a "smart grey" with a cape that was "to be envied" I think.
THANK you SO much for sharing this picture! It's precious.
Olga
I'm not sure what the protocol was but I'm sure these are whites. It may have had to do with the year of "training". I do know this is before graduation as she doesn't have her stripe on the cap yet. It was velvet and black as I recall. I don't have a photo of the cape but I think that was one of the reasons for becoming a cadet, cape envy.
I just realized,I'm at the age she was when she retired!! Of course she had the benefit of healthcare coverage through my Dad's work and later his retirement benefits.
Next time I marry for benefits, the healthcare kind!
Judy
moooooaan. :( I WAAAAAAAANT the black velvet stripe!
BTW everybody, since we're all signing in usually under the same username it's a good idea to sign your name at the bottom.
Judy and I have our own google accounts so you can see us come up under "Olga" or "Strawboss"..but otherwise I can't figure out where Michaele tried to post!
Olga, I added Michaele's email as a blog post (with her permission) but she added her books to the booklist spreadsheet.
Judy
My favorite aunt, for whom my daughter is named, just died this month at the age of 94. When she was a young woman, she wanted to go to nursing school because secretarial work seemed boring and she didn't want to teach. Such were the options for women in 1930. Her Irish Catholic father insisted that only "loose women" went into that field (because they'd be touching men's bodies, you know) and forbade it. She respected her father but she knew what she wanted, so she went anyway and worked as a nurse for many years. When I first heard that story, I was impressed that she knew her own mind so well at such a young age and had the courage to do what was right for her. Thanks for stirring up that memory.
~Michelle
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