While I descend from a long line of farmers and labourers, I sure have a lot of healthcare providers in my family tree!
I’ve written about my grandmother, Helen Lerner, who ended up becoming a hospital lab technician instead of attending Normal School to become a teacher. I’ve also written about my great great grandmother, Ella Thomas, who was a midwife for over 40 years. I have a sibling who is a physician, and her mother-in-law is also a prominent well-known physician. One of my siblings is a pharmacist. I have two aunts who were nurses. I have a sister-in-law who works in healthcare public policy and another who is a nurse practitioner specializing in mental health. Even my occupation is part of the healthcare system.
My wife’s family is also replete with people in the healthcare industry. There are numerous physicians in her maternal line, including her great grandfather who was a colleague of Dr. Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin. In fact, his daughter was one of Dr. Banting’s first patients to receive the medication. Many of the physicians in my wife’s tree served as medics in World Wars One and Two. Her grandmother also drove ambulance for the Red Cross during World War Two.
My own mother went into nursing. However, she was only in the training program for four months. She had to leave the program because at the time you could not be married or have children. That was about to change. My parents married after my mother left the program, and I came along not too much later.
A Deck of Ancestors 