Centennial Gala

Pooteewheet and I went to the University of Minnesota School of Nursing Centennial Gala at the Minneapolis Convention Center tonight. A number of nurses were being honored as distinguished alumni, and my mother was among them for her work with at risk populations (in particular, the homeless). A big honor, and the whole family turned out (sans kids) to watch her get the award.

I was surprised how many of the nurses being recognized were names I remembered from my days as an Administrative Assistant for Third District Minnesota Nurses Association. Almost the first person we bumped into as we entered the convention center was a former president of Sigma Theta Tau for whom I used to write newsletters and who once told me what an excellent movie Ace Ventura: Pet Detective was. And when they mentioned Katharine Densford several times I leaned over to my mother and asked, "Is that the Katharine Densford who became Katharine Densford-Dreves?" I remember that fact, because it was something of a surprise to a number of the nurses that she had married so late. And if you look at her biography on line, "As Katharine stepped down as Director of the school in 1959, she surprised everyone by announcing she was getting married..." She died almost 20 years later, and it was still a surprise to some nurses, because they were discussing it around the 10 year old at the nurses' association offices.

Congratulations, Mom!