My Beloved Doctor

I met my favorite doctor in 1989. We had just moved to Merced, my daughter was ill, and not knowing any doctor personally in this new city, I basically pulled a name out of a hat. When he asked for my daughter's immunization record, he spied one injection that was an experimental injection just before we left San Jose. He insisted, absolutely insisted there was no way she could have had that shot, and he was rude. He told me to bring the record next time. I knew there would not be a next time and turned back to the yellow pages for another pediatrician. That was how I met the doctor who would take care of me and my family for the next thirty-six years until his retirement in 2025.

I was impressed from the first time I saw him, absolutely gorgeous, with the most wonderful bedside manner for my children, often speaking in Donald Duck to amuse them during an injection. The following years were wonderful visits, I felt so secure in his wisdom and references. Dr Kradiums was thorough and would be the first person to tell you the problem was beyond his scope and refer us to another doctor he knew well.

Time passed and our affection grew, but not to the level that would unfold to in later years. I will remember each and every last one of his tender hugs, etched on my heart and skin forever. I lost my husband and he retired, no longer a part of each other's lives except in loving memory and a trace amount of hope. I have had two husbands and deeply loved five men in my life. All of them have died except my beloved doctor. I know I will eventually join all of them in our heaven, but meanwhile, I will remain in my home with the ghost of my cherished husband.