The Impossible

10" x 12".   Not very big.   About the size of a standard picture frame.   It is also the size of an x-ray film.   Actually the standard size of x-ray films were 8" x 10", 10" x 12", 11" x 14", and 14" x 17".   But there is something special about the 10" x 12" size as you will see.   In the past, x-ray films were developed by hand.   The films was clipped to a "hanger" and then dipped into various tanks of solutions.

The hangers made it easier to get a film into and out of a particular tank of solution.   It was a messy process.

One day a co-worker said that he could pas through a 10" x 12" hanger.   He was slender but this would still be impossible.   His shoulders were too wide.   Imagine taking a standard picture frame, remove the back, remove the glass, and then try squeezing through the frame.   No way.   Impossible.   He had a 10" x 12" hanger and proceeded with great effort trying to squeeze the hangar.   I was right, he had difficulty with the shoulders.   But he persisted and persisted in his effort and eventually made it.   There were several people in the room also to see this and we were all amazed by this.   I mean, have you ever seen something which you know is impossible but someone does it?   Sort of like watching a magician in a magic show do their illusions.   But this was no illusion or trickery, he actually passed through that 10" x 12" hanger.   And the hanger didn't get bent at all.   Although I saw it, I am still amazed by it.   Take a ruler and measure out and draw a rectangle of 10" x 12".   Do you think that you could fit through?   I know I can't but Jim did.   Have a pleasant day wherever you may be.    Lew

 

Little Sisters of the Poor

Back in the late 60's and early 70's I lived in Phoenix, Arizona and worked at St. Joseph's Hospital in their x-ray department.



St. Joseph's Hospital is operated by the Sisters of Mercy nuns.   The nuns were very nice.   The only nun that I can remember right  off-hand was Sister Mary Ralph who was in charge of the Emergency Department.   All the nuns wore "habits" that look like the one below.   The picture below is not of Sister Mary Ralph.

I think that it was more practical than the older bulky "habits".

While I worked at the hospital I also did volunteer work for the Little Sisters of the Poor.  

They operated what I would call a nursing home in Phoenix.   It was located just south of St. Joseph's Hospital.   The nursing home was excellent.   I remember that their "habits" were a bit more bulkier than the Sisters of Mercy.

The nuns were absolutely super nice.   They had really kind hearts. 

I was an x-ray technician and when they needed me they would call me at the Radiology Department of St. Joseph Hospital.   They would call me when a patient may have gotten injured, say falling down.   They had an x-ray machine and developing dark room right there at the nursing home.   I would leave the hospital (I had been given permission by the supervisor), drive to the nursing home, take the x-ray, drive back to the hospital , and have one of our hospital radiologists examine the x-ray to see if there was anything wrong.   Then the radiologist would write a handwritten report.   I would take the report and the x-ray back to the nursing home and give it to the nuns.   Fortunately, all of the patients that I x-rayed at the Little Sisters of the Poor nursing home were okay.   I really enjoyed doing the volunteer work at the nuns nursing home.    I just had the feeling that by helping the nuns I may have been doing a little bit of God's work.   Of course, the nuns were doing a whole lot of God's work.   Working with the nuns both at St. Joseph's Hospital and Little Sisters of the Poor made me feel good about myself.   I considered that it was an honor and a privilege.    I worked at St. Joseph's Hospital for 10 years and enjoyed every minute.