The Free Spirit

Prime Time Flying By; 1976 (Part Two)

Moving Elton to London was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. I hated the idea of my first baby moving out of home and living on his own so soon. He was only seventeen, and I wasn't ready for him to leave home yet, but I knew that my son was capable of handling any and all challenges. I just wished that it wasn't so hard to let him go.

We left London in mid-June to return to Nashville, as Don's album would be released soon and I was waiting on the results of my exams. We had left Margaret in charge of the house while we were gone and she took care of it well, and when we got home, she told me that there was some mail for me regarding the test. I was afraid to open it, nervous that after all my hard work for two years resulted in a failure. Months of studying arteries of the uterus, how to handle ectopic pregnancies, fibroids, how to cut and reconnect arteries during a full hysterectomy or an oophorectomy, studying how to properly perform a Caesarean section under the proper circumstances, not just in the middle of South Africa - all for nothing.

"You won't know that for sure if ya don't open it, honey," Don told me.

"I know, I just don't want to be disappointed," I said.

"Do you want to become a doctor?"

"Of course I do, but most medical students don't spend two years getting their doctorate. It takes so many more."

"Most medical students also don't got twenty years of midwifery experience." I let out a sigh.

"I know... I guess I'll open it and see what I got." With shaking hands, I tore open the envelope and unfolded the paper, still afraid to see what was inside. I read over the 'Dear Mrs. Everly' part and then scanned the rest. The very first words were, 'Congratulations, you have passed your exams'. "Well... I guess from now on, you can call me Doctor Everly..."

"You passed! Honey, that's wonderful!" Don exclaimed, picking me up in excitement and squeezing me tightly. "First doctor in the Everly family!"

"And in the Cromwell family, too, as far as I know!" I said. I was a graduate from the Meharry Medical College and would start my five year residency at the George Hubbard Hospital (which would later become the Nashville General Hospital in 1994) in their obstetrics and gynaecology department.

"We've had midwives before, Dr. Everly, but we've never actually had a midwife that's also a doctor. In fact, you're the first female doctor we've had here in the Obstetrics and Gynecology department," said the doctor who would be my instructor for the next five years, Dr. Tucker. He was a middle-aged man that was a little older than myself, although we both had children the same age. "How does your husband feel about you becoming a doctor?" We were seated in his office discussing what was to be expected during my residency.

"He encouraged it, and he's very glad I pursued it. I was a district midwife in the East End of London when we met about nineteen years ago," I told Dr. Tucker.

"I don't really know much about that part of London. I've only ever been to the rather wealthy parts," Dr. Tucker replied.

"Back in the fifties, the East End was a completely different place than it is now. We were the hardest hit by the Blitz during the war - er, Second World War - and that created a very tight-knit community among us East Enders."

"Were you even alive during the blitz?"

"I'll take that as a compliment. Yes, I would have been about two or three years old, but I wasn't living in London at the time. I'm actually from Romania."

"Ah, behind the iron curtain, I see. I'm sure that must have been a fun way to grow up."

"I only lived there during the war, my mother and I moved to London after the war ended and I grew up in London."