Pages

may I have the envelope, please?

19 June 2014

On Saint Patrick's Day 2011 Simon, Simon's dad, Julia, in utero Sebastian, and I joined Simon's med school class for a big Match Day ceremony in Wichita. Each student drew a number and one by one walked down the auditorium steps to open and read their match results to their classmates and families. Some people were ecstatic with their news while others were visibly stunned and a little bit upset because their envelope hadn't contained the program they'd been hoping for. The whole thing seems a little bit cruel to me but last I checked my musty resume didn't say a thing about experience as Match Day Master of Ceremonies so I'll just keep my commoner mouth shut for now. Simon drew a high number and we had to wait for quite a bit while wrestling baby J and I chewed on my cuticles because nervous habits die hard. When he finally walked down and read, "St. Louis!" I smiled and breathed a huge sigh of relief because that had been our first choice and we were really hoping the hospital had agreed. Then we all went out for Greek food and eventually went home to start scouring the internet for houses since we had three and a half months before Simon started his intern year of residency.

Fast forward three years, three months, and one day to yesterday. I scrambled all morning to get the kids ready, time Theo's morning nap and Phoebe's feedings appropriately, and get myself showered and dressed. We met Simon a little after 11 while he had a window of time between patients in clinic.


He held the big kids' hands while I pushed the smaller Pattons in the stroller through the labrynth that is the hospital basement hallways. We met Simon's program directors in between their surgeries in a little tiny room around the corner from the operating rooms equipped with a computer, a few stools, some surgical instruments and a bowl full of speculums (why?!). The stroller barely fit and the big kids were shy and confused as to why we weren't dining on cafeteria fries - the usual purpose of our visits to see Dad.

Simon logged onto the computer, pulled up his results and happily exclaimed, "Florida!!" while I smiled and breathed a sigh of relief because that had been our first choice for fellowship.


Simon's boss taking a photo of the results while Simon gets his permagrin on.

The kids were thrilled ...


especially Theo's leg.

And side note: if anyone wants to sneak in and steal that pink plastic collar Julia insists on wearing EVERYWHERE ... I'd be infatuated with you forever. 

We hired a sitter for later that night and went out to celebrate Simon's feat ...

drunk.







just kidding.

Good day! I'm so proud of Simon. It was always a possibility that he wouldn't match because there are plenty of people that don't. Anyway, let me continue my dramatic retelling of the events with a little bit of a lengthy metaphor. Thank you. Your generosity is the bomb.

Let's say that residency is a marathon because it is. Yesterday felt like some kind soul threw us a monster blue Gatorade to get us through the remainder of the race. Well, that's a little trite, Grace. I know! It is. It's awful but it's true. These last three years have been a lot more trying than the Grace on Match Day 2011 had ever ever anticipated and to see that there is a big fat sunny light at the end of the four year hell tunnel was downright marvelous. Simon's hours will be SO much better, I have some good friends already living in Tampa, and Simon's hours will be SO much better.

One more year to go. And in the mean time we'll be little engining our way through fourth year because we think we can, we think we can. And we will.

I hope.

And look out, Tampa. In July of 2015 the Pattons are coming for you. Get excited because we most certainly are!

:)

103 comments:

  1. Congratulations, Pattons! What an amazing blessing to have the first choice twice -- Looking forward to following your adventures to the Sunshine State!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What wonderful news!!! Congrats to all of you - what a great place to be :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm so happy you got your first choice! You'll have the best time in Tampa, it's the best!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congratulations, Simon! Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  5. So freakin' happy for you guys. And think of all the sun! :-D

    ReplyDelete
  6. So jealous! I've always wanted to live in Florida! Congrats!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. YAY!!!! Congrats to Simon and all the Pattons! So happy for you. Here's to lights at the end of the tunnel!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow! Yay Simon and Grace! Yay for good news and only(?) a year to go!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yay Pattons! Can't wait to follow your adventures in Florida!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Awesome! Florida is a great place to live!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Congratulations and welcome to the Sunshine State!! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Congratulations!! Why am I so excited for a stranger?? I can't help it!

    ReplyDelete
  13. yay!!!!! so excited for yall!! go simace, go!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Congratulations, Grace! It will be a lot less dark of winter for ye now! I am so happy for you all. :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hooray, congrats to Simon and the rest of The Camp! NO MORE WINTERS!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Yay! Florida is a great place :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Congrats! First choice twice means you're doing something right for sure!
    So, you spend one year there and then... he's done and looking for a job? Back to St. Louis? Maybe a "this is how you become a dr." primer post for us non-medical folks?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha no it's a three year deal in Tampa and then yes! real job!!! :)

      Delete
  18. Congratulations!! How exciting for you guys! Praying for you as you walk through this next year!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hoe ray for warmer weather!!! Now all you have to worry about his hurricanes! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  20. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Yay! I'm just looking forward to the 2 year research "break" my hubby will be doing for the next two years, the final 3 years of surgery residency can WAIT, thank you very much :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Congratulations! Good for the Patton family! And you've escaped terrible winters, hooray! Sincerely, A Bostonian

    ReplyDelete
  23. So very happy for you guys! That's wonderful news! And having friends in the area will be so nice.

    ReplyDelete
  24. How wonderful that you got your first choice! Good news, indeed. And I think Florida sounds wonderful. Hooray for the Pattons.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Yay! Congrats! Now you won't have to be jealous of the life you imagine I led down there. ;) Although, after the third tornado warning in as many days (always interrupting the kids' sleep!!!) I'm about ready to join you for the beaches and good sushi.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Congratulations!!!!!!! I definitely know the feeling... Will did not match first time around because he did not apply to enough programs. This year: total bliss, and now we're now a few days away from him starting his emergency medicine residency in PA. I am so thrilled for y'all!! YAY PATTON FAMILY!!! And a big high five for you Grace, for taking care of the family in such an amazing, inspiring way. I hope I can hold it together the way you do during residency. Oh, and fist bump to Simon. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Where in PA? We're here at the tail end of school (MS4) and maybe-possibly-hoping to match here, too for IM residency!

      Delete
  27. thank GOD it's somewhere warm, so happy for you guys!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Welcome to Tampa.....buenvenidos a Tampa!! That's how the song goes right?

    ReplyDelete
  29. Huge congrats Grace!!! That sounds so awesome!!!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Congrats! So exciting that he got his first choice. :-) Can't wait for tales from the sunshine state.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Nooooooo!!!!!! You can't leave St. Louis!!!

    ReplyDelete
  32. This is awesome! And warm! And awesome! Congratulations Pattons!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Yay for you guys - at least 3 years of warm weather! Nice weather somehow just makes all the difference in life : )

    ReplyDelete
  34. Congrats! That's great!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Congratulations! You're going to love the lack of snow. :) Can't wait to read about the Patton adventures.

    ReplyDelete
  36. I actually thought about this the other morning. Is that weird? Guess I'm invested in where you go too..... Florida! Congrats!! I have friends that loooove it there so hopefully you do too!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Congrats!!! I am so excited for you guys- warm weather and better hours!!!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Congratulations! I would happily follow my husband to Florida too if he would just freakin' look for a job there. So happy you got your first choice! Pretty sure I'll be hating pretty hard come winter of 2015-16 when I'm loading up the woodstove and you're posting sunny pictures. Be sure to snag a place with a guest room would ya?

    ReplyDelete
  39. Amazing amazing amazing news!!! Congrats!!

    ReplyDelete
  40. Yeah!!!!!!!! I'm in Tampa! Seriously email me if you need any recs at all! (I'm a Nurse Practitioner in Pediatric Cardiology and live in the area :-)

    meetatthebarre@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  41. Best news ever. Let me know if I can help (:

    ReplyDelete
  42. Great news! Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
  43. That's awesome! So happy for you all. Maybe you can swing through the ATL on your way....! :)

    ReplyDelete
  44. That is wonderful!! So happy you got your first choice and that you will be warm ALL year round!! LOL! Blessings and Grace to you both on this next chapter in your grand adventure together. Go Patton's Go!!

    ReplyDelete
  45. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  46. I'm so glad you got your first choice. I don't know if I could move there but I do love my southern temperatures so I get that piece of it!

    ReplyDelete
  47. Welcome to Florida!!!! We're in Tallahassee not Tampa. But I bet you all will love it there! Just not in June, July, August, or September :)

    ReplyDelete
  48. Congratulations!! So happy for you - I have many friends just finishing their first year of med school, so they still have the long trek ahead.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Congratulations!! This is wonderful. So happy for you all. :)

    ReplyDelete
  50. Congrats! That is all very exciting!! :) so happy for Simon and you all! Florida sounds lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Put your UGGS (are those out?) away and break out the zinc oxide!!! Very happy for all parties in the Patton household!

    ReplyDelete
  52. That's awesome that Simon's assignment is the one you were hoping for! …Maybe I've read too many young adult dystopia novels in the last couple years (Divergent much?), but when I read "Match Day" all I could think was that your fate was in the authorities hands all this time and now you know their plans and come next July you'll be leading a revolution. It's not you, it's me =) Congratulations!!

    ReplyDelete
  53. Congrats to Simon (and you, because I know how hard you work to support him!)!!

    If it helps, fourth year was BY FAR the best year of residency. Third year was hell, and fourth year made up for it.

    ReplyDelete
  54. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Congratulations!!! There's actually a chance I might visit you out there. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  55. Congratulations, Pattons! Well done, Simon! I'm at the end of my second year, taking my Step 1 in 4 days. Your blog has been one my most welcome (and hilarious) study breaks along the way. Nice to see people coming out on the other side of all this craziness!

    ReplyDelete
  56. so happy for you! florida will be amazing. congrats to simon (and all the pattons!) well deserved!

    ReplyDelete
  57. Great news!! Hopefully this last year will fly by for you:)

    ReplyDelete
  58. Congrats!! Tampa is the good part Florida, too.

    ReplyDelete
  59. This is Marya's friend Meghan (the one who apparently told you about her fifth baby) . . . We are happy to be welcoming you to Tampa! If you need anything, let us know!

    ReplyDelete
  60. Congrats Pattons! How exciting!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  61. Yay!!!!! Congratulations! Tampa sounds like the perfect place for y'alls next stop :)

    ReplyDelete
  62. Congratulations!!! Julia's statement piece is a must of the season. I should try to get one for myself ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  63. What a relief for all of you to know where you are going. And your first choice!

    ReplyDelete
  64. I'm usually a big ole lurker, but I just had to pop in and say congratulations! I would probably melt in the Tampa humidity, but I suddenly have visions of all you Pattons looking gloriously tan and taking up surfing (even though I don't think people surf on the bay thanks to the laws of nature and physics and what-not.), but really I am so glad that you will have your man around more and that he got his first choice. High fives all around.

    PS. I am married to a chef/restaurant owner, which has very similar hours but without all the noble saving of lives, so naturally I complain about it all the time. I've been trying to channel some of your resiliency and good humor lately, and while I am totally failing, I should probably say thank you for the inspiration. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  65. Aw, my fourth child was born on St. Patrick's Day of 2011. A great day, indeed. Congratulations to your family!

    ReplyDelete
  66. Woohoo. Awesome news! Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
  67. Congratulations Simon and family!

    ReplyDelete
  68. Yay congratulations!! Such a relief to get your first choice :)

    ReplyDelete
  69. Mazel Tov! Hope you guys really enjoy being in Tampa.

    ReplyDelete
  70. Congratulations!! I'm glad you'll be by some close friends- that can make all the difference! Glad you got a night out too, I'm sure it was much needed :)

    ReplyDelete
  71. Yay Tampa-- you're definitely in for some better winters! I am from Tampa and live in GA now, so we visit FL still to see family. Maybe one day we can meet up :) Congrats on getting what you guys wanted! :)

    ReplyDelete
  72. Ah! The Pattons are coming to Florida. I am in Miami, just a few hours away. You will love winters and the sun. Living close to the water is also amazing. Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
  73. Congrats to you and Simon! What a relief for you guys!

    I am seriously in awe of you, as you approach fellowship with your four beautiful kidlets. Because me? I'm dyyyyyying already and we're only MS4 and with only one (colicky! "sensitive"! but still, just one) child. I'm loving the blue gatorade analogy. As I ran the Pittsburgh half marathon this year, kind souls lined up on the streets to hand runners beer... and I gratefully accepted the beer (carbs? yes). So, what I'm saying is, in this medical life analogy, definitely beer needs to be part of the equation.

    Cheers to Tampa!

    ReplyDelete
  74. Congrats!! Yay for Florida!!! (coming from a MInnesota mom who nearly lost her mind this winter :)

    ReplyDelete
  75. You are going to LOVE,LOVE,LOVE raising young children in Florida. When I was 13 my parents moved us from Connecticut to Florida and at the time my siblings were 1, 2 1/2 and 3 1/2. Needless to tell you, my mother was busy. She always said the best part of that move was the first winter when she didn't have to put on and take off endless numbers of boots, mittens, snow pants, etc. She could just send everyone out to play! Just be sure and get a house with a fenced back yard and you will be living the dream!!! Thanks for bringing so many precious souls into the world. God Bless.

    ReplyDelete
  76. Congrats!! Tampa General? My cousin is a L&D nurse there!

    ReplyDelete
  77. Congratulations! I have drs in the family and matching and residency seem like very cruel forms of punishment to me.

    ReplyDelete
  78. I found your blog through House Unseen and this is my first comment. Congratulations on Tampa! I live just south and move here when my kids were little. Florida is a great place to raise kids. Also, two of my cousins went to med school and did their residencies in Tampa (USF/TGH). Best of luck!

    ReplyDelete
  79. Hi Grace! I found your blog a few months ago through a friend's post and I love it! I'm from Florida and my husband and I moved back to the Tampa area two years ago. We're now relocating for his job but just wanted to say that it's a great place to have kids! I'm sure you're going to love the weather, that's my favorite part with my daughter, we get to be outside all year round.

    ReplyDelete
  80. Yay! Congratulations, Pattons!
    I am so jealous. Tampa/St Pete is my favorite FL city. (well I haven't been to Miami.. but I am pretty sure I will still like Tampa/St. Pete over Miami!)

    I am still dreaming maybe someday i can move down there.... or visit you all! (ha!)
    congrats again.

    ReplyDelete
  81. Awesome giveaway! Love the mug!!

    ReplyDelete
  82. Congrats, Simon! So, maybe you said this already, but how long will you be in FL for?

    ReplyDelete
  83. Welcome to our sunny little slice of heaven! I live in St. Petersburg and look forward to reading about your move! See you at the beach (or the mall!)

    ReplyDelete
  84. I'm glad you got the match you wished for, congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
  85. Congrats! Beaches sound so nice to us mid westerners!

    ReplyDelete
  86. Congratulations that is wonderful! HUGE accomplishment!

    ReplyDelete
  87. Yay for Dr Patton! A friend from high school has a wonderful dance school in the Tampa area - you can look it up on facebook under TADA - Theatre Arts & Dance Alliance. Her name is Mitsie Kraack. You need to get Julia in a good theatre/dance program because she needs to channel that creative energy somewhere! The Kraack family is legendary in my hometown for theatre and just really, really good people.

    ReplyDelete
  88. Congrats!! So happy for you!!!

    ReplyDelete
  89. Congrats! I grew up in Tampa and will hopefully be moving back next Spring. See ya there!

    ReplyDelete
  90. Congrats to Simon and the Patton fam! Seems like Tampa weather will be nice and not-cold for you... I shall miss your "Is winter over yet?!??!?" posts because they are some of my favs (really, truly!).

    ReplyDelete
  91. Yay for getting what you want! Yay for getting away from the cold! Yay, Yay, YAY!!!

    Side note, what kind of double stroller is Theo's leg peeking out from? Baby #2 is due in August and I really don't want a double wide stroller...

    ReplyDelete
  92. Congratulations on the wonderful news! It's embarrassing how many times I checked your blog while waiting for you to post this:).

    ReplyDelete
  93. Woo! Congrats! I was just talking to my fiance about match day and the weirdness of being around everyone if you're upset about your match ... it's still a year and a half away, but it gives me anxiety just thinking about it. Definitely nice to see that it can work out twice!

    ReplyDelete
  94. Congratulations! I was selfishly hoping you'd come to Birmingham, but I'm so glad you got your first choice! I WAS going to help you find a house here that has a working doorbell, but now you're on your own ... ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  95. So happy for you, Grace!! Plenty of sun and no winters. Yay!!! Can't wait for you to begin chronicling that new adventure!!!

    ReplyDelete
  96. I'm late to the party, but congratulations! Tampa was our first choice too for Ryan's work (he works for Southwest Airlines). We ended up in Raleigh, which we've grown to love, but sunny Florida still sounds lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  97. Congratulations! Yay for you guys.=)

    ReplyDelete

 

Camp Patton © All rights reserved · Theme by Blog Milk · Blogger