During my senior year in HS, due to my straight A’s in typing, my HS guidance counselor encouraged me to attend secretarial school. After completing my 1st year of Secretarial Science at MATC in Madison, I decided this was not the profession for me even though it all served me well, as did my further work experience.
During the next Summer, a friend and I drove to her aunt’s house on the Gulf Coast of Florida and worked as waitresses for $.50/hr (we were told our tips were supposed to make up for our sparse wages–NOT!) We arrived back in Madison with little money so found work through an employment agency in an oral surgery clinic on Mifflin Street where I earned 3 free uniforms and even eventually had my wisdom teeth pulled for free…what a deal! It was an excellent training and introduction into the medical field, however, after one year it felt rather redundant. I learned I could get some further education as a nursing assistant at the VA Hospital and that’s when I began my hospital work in earnest…I SO loved caring for all these veterans, many of which were returning from Vietnam.
During some vacation time my roommate, Carma Grass and I hitchhiked from Madison to New York City and then another time from Wisconsin to Denver. Since Madison was a little too close to home, I relocated to Denver in my 1962 Chevrolet and began working at that VA Hospital. Admittedly, while working at both VA Hospitals in Madison and Denver, I thought I had died and gone to Heaven…learning how to care for all those veterans as a nursing assistant, an RN and as a nurse/officer in the Army National Guard and active duty Air Force …I felt I had truly found my purpose!
Since those days, I have been told by a number of people that I seemed like an “old soul”. Due to my open spiritual exploration, I eventually scheduled several regression sessions where I learned I have cared for many soldiers in several of my past lives…from WWI, the Civil War and the wild West to name a few. That knowledge has admittedly given me such peace because it helps connect my deep love for caring for my fellow soldiers.
I have cared for SO many special patients through the years…but there one which I’ll never forget, and that was Walter. Walter was in his 80’s and suffered from a type of cancer so we had time to develop a special relationship. At one point, Walter shared that he had previously lived in Chicago and that his neighbor was Al Capone…of all people!. But then, he further added “I didn’t think he was such a bad guy”. I wonder how and when Walter learned more about his notorious neighbor’s history.
I think most people have heard the name Al Capone and know that he was not a nice guy (other than being Walter’s neighbor). Sometimes known by the nickname “Scarface”, Capone was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the Chicago Outfit. In addition, the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre, in which seven gang rivals were murdered in broad daylight, damaged the public image of Chicago and Capone, leading influential citizens to demand government action and newspapers to dub Capone “Public Enemy No. 1″. His seven-year reign as a crime boss ended when he finally went to prison at the age of 33.
Bottom line…Al ‘Scarface’ Capone was involved in everything from tax evasion to racketeering to murder. Question…why would a former President compare himself to this mobster? Former President Donald Trump is increasingly comparing himself to Alphonse Capone, the infamous 1920s Chicago mob boss who was ultimately brought down for tax evasion. Realistically, the similarities between Donald Trump and the renowned mobster are many; both, for example, allegedly ran wide-ranging criminal enterprises, and both were adept at side-stepping legal accountability.
As one of my spiritual heroes, Maya Angelou, famously stated: When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.
Warriors…let’s walk on the side of light and love…the holistic benefits are endless.
Spiritual Meditation: The lessons of the darkness are to walk through it. The lessons of the light are to become it. – Daily Medicine