Birthday(s) 2009

It's always hard to come back after being gone for so long. The occasion this time is a 6 hour flight from Anchorage to Chicago. I didn't bring much to read and have had some time to reflect and eventually realized I could write without the distractions of the internet.

A couple days from June rise to the top when I think about blog-worthy events in my life lately. The first was my birthday. Prince of Wales Island is in Southeast Alaska, a large island home to around 5,000 people. I spent my birthday week out there with a family doc from Wrangell putting on clinics at various small towns. I awoke on my 27^th birthday in a vacation cabin overlooking a lake and spent some time in prayer preparing for the coming year and reflecting on the last. My doc wished me happy birthday and after a hearty breakfast of oatmeal, we headed to work at the Whale Pass library, which was hosting the day's clinic.

Most of the patients were of the run-of-the-mill primary care variety, but about midway through, we were informed that there was a man in the parking lot with a large laceration that would not come in for some reason. I went out and discovered that he was concerned about the cost. After looking at his injury and persuading him that he shouldn't let cost be a barrier, I found myself repairing the injury. I casually mentioned that it was quite an interesting thing to be doing on your birthday and he replied that he would be celebrating his the next day.

We closed up shop and headed out to Naukati for an afternoon clinic, finally ending up at Rosie's, a seaside restaurant in Craig, for a birthday dinner of halibut oscar. It had been an amazing day.

Except it wasn't my birthday. I was a day off. I had called my parents from the lone hill in Naukati where cell phones get reception, expecting birthday wishes, but as the conversation drifted on, I ended up asking, “Aren't you going to wish me happy birthday??” Oops. Fortunately I hadn't missed it, but would get to have my 27^th birthday... again.

I spent my actual birthday, June 4^th, in Koffman Cove and woke up on a church floor, not quite as picturesque. Clinic wasn't quite as interesting, but I had an excellent steak dinner with an older couple after paying them a house call. From their beach front, I watched whales spouting, played in the tide pools and reveled in the surrounding beauty with my God. Following dinner, we went for a hike through massive cypress trees to a waterfall and then a drive through the woods of Prince of Wales Island... a perfect end to my birthday(s).