A fun true story about how a Caregiver got his nickname.
Pic: Free / Public Domain Clip Art
“Keith, let me tell a funny and true story about how I got my nickname,” said Br. Elliott, RN, as he was then known when he would bring his fellow Jesuit brothers and priests to the hospital back in the late 1980s in New Orleans when I worked at Jo Ellen Smith Medical Center as a Social Worker.
Brother was one of those down to earth guys, rather rotund with a beer belly and just a regular “Joe,” and a nurse who had a keen sense of practicality and purpose and who knew that just because he happened to be a consecrated guy with vows and the like, he was first and foremost a human, like the rest of us.
“How's it been going, Bro – you've been taking good care of yourself and those other “Jebbies?” I asked him, as we would affectionately call that religious order to which our current Pope Francis belongs!
“Well, let me give you a litany of troubles to which I've been blessed by our Lord to try to manage lately for these dudes,” as Br. Elliott went on to note the following: “1. Fr. Joe's episodes of incontinence, 2. Fr. Harold's new pacemaker, 3. Br. Bill's now being oxygen dependent, 4. Fr. Henry's dementia and 5. Fr. Matt's depression! - I may have to start taking some of his prozac to keep going at this rate!”
“Oh well,” I noted, “at least, thankfully, they have a saintly Brother Jebbie to take care of them – I'm sure St. Ignatius would be proud of you!” “He can be as proud as he wants to be,” noted Br. Elliot, “but I need humor to keep me sane, which is why I need to tell ya that story about my nickname – remember; I hope I'm not starting to get some of the 'old-timers disease' also – Ha!” Thankfully, I did get a few Dixie brews last night when the 'Aints lost another football game in the last minute as usual!
“So this is what happened and how I got my nickname. After taking my vows as a Brother, long after I'd been a nurse, I was assigned to this small hospital that only had one doc who did everything, including births.
Anyway, sometimes it was a pain in the a_ _ -oops, sorry about my french, but suffice it to say that I wore many hats and dealt with a lot of dingbats – how ya like that Keith, it rhymes; I'm a poet and ya didn't know it!!!
So this lady was brought in who was ready to burst out with a baby at any time, and I assigned her to a room. She needed to go to the bathroom, but I had to keep telling her to come back to her room as she had dilated enough to have that baby right there and then!
So I helped to get her ready, and then we had to deal with another emergency from a motorcycle accident, so the doc was pulled away. Man, that was bloody scene – a dude hadn't been wearing a helmet; so sad, he didn't make it!
Not long later, I found the lady again sitting on the toilet as the baby was coming out – talk about having to be quick on my feet. 'It's a boy!' I shouted to her as I was just able to deliver the baby next to the toilet. She was ecstatic and said, 'Let's name him John, since that was where he was almost born!' And that's why they now all call me Br. Johnny!!!!”
Keith John Paul Horcasitas, LCSW, MHA, 1133 Knollhaven Drive, BRLA 70810, khorcasitas.yahoo.com, Noverber 30, 2014.
The first thing I thought about while reading this was… "Here's Johnny!" ;-)
That's a very interesting story about a down to earth individual that the Jesuits were often noted for. Quite a very practical order in the way they conducted life's business.
Sherlyn Powell opens up about her love and devotion to her family and the overwhelming repercussion when communication breaks down. Heartbroken and distraught she learns to release her prayer and realize with faith God would reunite her family.
We Will Stone Him is a raw, unfiltered trauma memoir about surviving childhood abuse, emotional manipulation, and the lifelong wounds that follow. This true story marks the beginning of the Rising From The Ashes Trilogy, John Gambacorta and his survi
A passionate and poignant memoir written by a woman whose life has been guided by the words: "I am here to learn how to love well." The book is a deep examination of relationships, family, motivation, and honoring of the Self.
“Keith, let me tell a funny and true story about how I got my nickname,” said Br. Elliott, RN, as he was then known when he would bring his fellow Jesuit brothers and priests to the hospital back in the late 1980s in New Orleans when I worked at Jo Ellen Smith Medical Center as a Social Worker.
