Is There A Doctor In The House?!

When he was 4 years old, my son wanted to be a "mortuary worker" when he grew up, which, to him, meant he would wash fleet cars (my husband was working in the family mortuary at the time, and that's all Kyle had ever seen his dad do at work). In elementary school, he wanted to work for NASA. 

Then, in 6th grade, he had a sleepover at a new friend's house. I picked him up the next morning from a house that looked much like the Clampett's mansion in The Beverly Hillbillies, and he excitedly told me how cool the house was, especially the intercom system in every room. "What does James' dad do for a living?" he asked, and when I told him James' dad was a cardiologist, he said, "That's what I want to do when I grow up!" And thus, a tiny seed was officially planted.

In 8th grade, Kyle had to do a project for his gifted class on what you wanted to be when you. grew up, and one of the requirements was to job shadow. I helped him make arrangements to shadow the cardiologist I had after Emma was born (long story, but you can read about that here if you are so inclined). When I picked him up at the end of the day, he was bubbling over with stories from his day, including being in the ER when the doctor had to tell a family that there was nothing further that could be done for their loved one, watching a procedure where the cardiologist drew fluid off a patient's heart, and, most importantly, eating in the doctors private dining room at the hospital, where he got to eat brisket and chocolate cake. He was hooked!

High school and college were devoted to getting into medical school. I'm not going to tell you it was smooth sailing, because it wasn't always, but through a combination of him being very smart and me reminding him periodically to make sure he turned in all his work, he was accepted at University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, where he turned into this man who is now, officially, a doctor. And he's married to another doctor, our lovely Lillian, whom he met at medical school. They are moving to Little Rock in a week to begin their residencies, him in Internal Medicine and her in Pediatrics. We could not be more proud of them both.

And some day in the not-so-distant future, that kid will get to eat in the doctors dining room, and he will have come full circle.

And that, my friends, is my Ten Things of Thankful for the week, all rolled into one GIGANTIC ENORMOUS FABULOUS thankful.

May I introduce to you Kyle R. Dillon, MD, and his wife, Lillian Flannigan, MD, (neither of whom appreciate me calling them, collectively, the Doctors Dilligan):

Y'ALL, THEY'RE DOCTORS!!!

We are grinning like fools behind the masks....

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