End of the Soup Kitchen?

Today, I received an email from Jeff about how the Catholic Worker House is planning on closing down the soup kitchen. The phrase "different priorities" came up in describing the reason for this. I wonder what those different priorities are?

Weddings!

A good high school friend of mine got married today.

Ah, there's so much I could say about today. I got to stand in a wedding for the first time, and, admittedly, there's something unexplainable about watching a friend stare into the eyes of the love of his life. As Hugo says in Les Miserables, it's one of those moments when the infinite above comes in contact with the infinite below. Hugo uses these words to describe prayer but I'd argue that it's just as applicable when it comes to love.

Bride and Groom





Turns out that I was the only high school friend there which placed me at a wonderful awkward and lonely position considering that most of the young people there were either college friends or part of the extended family. Still, at any given moment, it was hard not to be happy for my friend and it's nice how in celebrating the guests of honor, it becomes much easier to forget momentary discomforts. Plus, it's always fun to hear potentially embarrassing family stories.

Groom and Best Man, the morning of



Wedding Cake-- white, carrot, and chocolate



Rehearsal Dinner-- Hanger Steak



Oak Community Church-- listed as Hinsdale Baptist in my GPS (another one of those denominational drops)

Closing Thoughts and Miscellaneous Pics

Today, I was able to spend some time with an Internist, and, by chance, essentially got to spend time in all the other departments that I hadn't had a chance to spend time in before. This was because Dr. Khan was covering for two other Internists and was in ER-backup call. So, I ended up spending time in the ICU, and Med/Surg floors while also seeing a code blue down in the ER.



I had a fantastic time partly because Dr. Khan was an excellent teacher and he took the initiative to go over history taking and pointing important things along the way. It turns out that he just joined the volunteer faculty for Peoria for 3rd years, which means that should I want to come back to Dixon, I could request him as a preceptor. Dr. Khan did his US residency at Cook County Hospital in Chicago (Now Stroger) in 1991 and so he probably falls into the old-school breed of physicians. I think patients like him because he is very clear, very direct and assertive, and explains everything thoroughly (as evidence to his complete med-student like histories which usually take up at least three pages when transcribed). He has a remarkable mind and doesn't need to write any of his patient's data down when he takes histories. I spent time with Dr. Khan both in the clinic and in the hospital, and if I hadn't checked out at 9 pm, I would have also ended up in psychiatry with him. We even went to a physicians meeting that lasted all of 30 seconds when we finally got there (they needed a quarum to vote on some issue).



Regarding one patient Dr. Khan made an interesting point. "This patient is so thankful and says that I have saved her life five or six times. That's nice, but I don't think I am saving her life. I am just doing my job." Even though it sounded kind of strange at first, I realized then just how much the man loved what he did.

Petunia Festival

Every year, as part of the Fourth of July festivities, the people of Dixon have their "Taste of Chicago"-like event . I happened to go on the first day of festivities so there wasn't too much going on since the carnival part hadn't opened up, but as you would expect at an event like this, there was an assortment of overpriced food vendors and kiddie entertainment





The event took place right by Dixon high school (pictured above) which looks more like a castle than a school. I hear that it's not the best school district (of course this was told to me by a doc who was responding to my comment that his eldest college-bound son was probably a pretty bright kid).



One of the "games" there was this nifty contraption. Yes, that's a toilet on top.



As my contribution to the Dixon economy, I purchased this 10'' Italian Sausage for 7.00 (which isn't all that bad for an event like this) but my stomach was questioning the decision beginning from the first bites. Still, after downing a smoothie that was supposed to be a berry blend but tasted like bubble gum instead, I was able to keep things under control.