On The Road With Denny D

It was my last medical visit to London. Like most doctors’ offices it was a wait and see moment. This time was different. I was escorted to the examination room, and I waited some more but after a short while, a beautiful blonde entered the doctor's office. I assumed she was a nurse. She just introduced herself and she took my BP. She walked out and I waited for the doctor to arrive. I was hoping she would not return. I knew the checking me out process that happened every three months was about to happen again. It was embarrassing enough just being with my doctor. Suddenly, the door opened and in though it came my doctor but he had someone with him: the same blonde.  He told me she was an intern. That she would over seeing the examination. She was over seeing all right, and I was not overly pleased.  I was glad she already took my BP because it would most assuredly be up now. I prayed I wouldn't have to go through embarrassment of baring all. I looked over at the table of doom...

I spent a week in a London Ontario Children's hospital. Victoria Memorial Children's hospital as it was known at the time. We finally were getting to the bottom of my stalled growth. I was the oldest kid on the floor. I was eighteen at the time. My predicament paled in comparison to the other kids on the floor. My room had four beds. Beside me was a boy dealing with leukemia and another who had to roll down the hallway like a crab, he had some kind of spin issue. I was just there to get tested. For what, we would have to wait and see. I spent the early hours of the day being carted off to various tests. In the early evenings I would spend my time helping the kids do crafts and after, I flirted with various nurses. There was one nurse I like the most. Unfortunately, she was a one floor down. What was I to do? I soon discovered a tube at the nurse’s station. I had seen it in action, and I was impressed. I had an a-ha moment. "If I sent a note down would my honey receive it...

I finished high school in January and had to wait until June for my diploma. I had some time to kill and a bucket list of things I wanted to get done. Number one; a driver's license. I could have gotten a license when I was sixteen. Maybe I just needed to let it grow on me while I was growing. The time off made it easier to get the deed done. After passing my beginners I was looking for a driver's school. Spence's driver school was my choice.  I can't remember how many weeks it was, but I do remember learning to drive. Mr. Spence was a very nice, patient and kind man. I seem to recall that he drove an AMC Pacer or as we called it a greenhouse on wheels. He'd parked it across the street while we hopped into my mother's seventy-three, three toned (tan, brown and rust) Ford Maverick.  It had a 302 engine and was rear wheel drive. It was a small car with too much power and spinning out on snow covered road was easy to do.  My instructor said, "if you can le...