Last year around this time, Jessica, Namine, and I gave a speech to the Children’s Hospital medical college. The responses from students, they said, was overwhelmingly positive, so they asked us back. We were happy to oblige.
We gave more or less the same talk as last year, which itself is a variation on the talk we’ve given at Marquette for a couple years now. The audience is different, but the subject matter is the same: accessibility and the equipment required outside the hospital.
Our audience was comprised of medical students (future doctors and nurses) as well as pharmaceutical students (future pharmacists). We didn’t have any slides dedicated to medication — note to self for next time — but we did take some time to talk about it anyway.
Part of our speech always addresses home accessibility, and since Namine is now ten, we talk about how she has become more independent — partly out of necessity. Jessica hurt her back over a year ago, and she can no longer pick Namine up. I can, but I also work in an office five days a week, and I can’t always get away to help out.
Even with Namine’s independence, she still likes to show off how I can pick her up in her wheelchair. She made sure I showed the class, so I picked her up and walked from one end of the room to the other.
Our talk went for about an hour, and afterwards we took questions for about fifteen to twenty minutes (I think — I wasn’t keeping a close eye on the clock). We stayed until there were no more questions.
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