The anguished pain of parting from The ones they loved so dear.

To suffering folk he brought new hope, To all he brought good cheer.

I remember well that doctor-man.

He came to me one day;

He said “You’ve got an abcess, lad,

It must be cut away”.

He laid me on a table bare,

My father held me down,

Then “Doc” he lanced my abcessed ear And cleaned the foul wound.

Another time I do recall

It was nineteen-eighteen;

The flu was killing all around

And he alone was seen.

i drove him in the horse and sleigh,

I lost him on a hill, And found him in the snow, asleep, Wrapped in his bear rug still.

He gave his all, wore out his heart, There’s more that I could tell;

But the finest thing that I can say — We learned to love him well.

He lies beside St. George’s Church in the graveyard on the hill,

Where his remains are long interred, But he’s remembered still.

Local nurses were also held in high regard. Their services were often called in if the doctor was not available or if the patient required constant supervision over a long time period — something the overworked country doctors simply could not provide. The nurses also dealt with slcknesses and hurts which didn’t warrant calling in the doctor.

Being a nurse also required dedication and concern. The nurse was often the only outsider besides the doctor to be admitted to the sickroom. The nurses would spend many days and nights at the bedside giving both physical and mental support to the patient and the family. They also dealt with many of the less crucial health concerns, “sore throats, sore backs,and all stomach flus”.

Most of the nurses were female since nursing was one of the few professions women could enter. The healing touch was definitely not confined to females, however. Walter Robertson from Annandale is remembered as being a male

nurse. 60

”Wamwwwm Wr—