The ongoing joke between me and my husband is that even though he earned his MD, I feel like I earned an honorary one too—I was right there with him every step of the way.
Our story started way back when we were in elementary school. We grew up in Houston, Texas, went to church together, and our families were best friends. Holidays were always spent together, and we were inseparable as best friends, sharing the same group of friends and going to school together.
Over the years, we remained close, completely platonic, even though deep down, we secretly loved each other. It wasn’t until our sophomore year in college that we finally got together romantically.
After we graduated college, I started working as a high school math teacher, and Chris took a year off to clerk in the ER, gaining hospital experience before starting medical school.
Then came medical school.
Medical school took us to San Antonio, Texas. Chris was a full-time student, and I continued teaching full-time. To help make ends meet, I also tutored five or six days a week, and Chris took out loans to cover medical school costs.
After four years of medical school and a year of internship, we moved to Nashville, Tennessee, for his residency in interventional radiology.
We had a three-month-old baby at the time, and Chris had no time off to help me sell our home in Texas or look for a new one in Nashville.
So I packed up our baby, met my mom in Nashville, and the three of us spent a weekend house-hunting. I bought a house that Sunday before flying back to San Antonio.
We didn’t have FaceTime back then, so Chris didn’t see our new house until move-in day. Thankfully, he liked it.
Just when we thought training was ending.
After four years of residency, Chris had a one-year fellowship. Luckily, it was at Vanderbilt, so we got to stay put.
Towards the end of that fellowship, Chris decided to subspecialize in pediatric interventional radiology. At first, I didn’t really grasp what that meant, but I soon learned it meant a second fellowship.
At that time, Vanderbilt didn’t have a pediatric interventional radiology program, so Chris trained at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
By this point, we had a two-year-old and a five-year-old. Since Vanderbilt had already offered Chris a full-time job after fellowship, we made the tough call to stay in Nashville while he trained in Cincinnati.
It was hard, but we knew it was temporary. Chris got excellent training, and our kids stayed in a familiar environment.
Looking back from the other side.
Now, our kids are 18 and almost 16. One is heading off to college, and the other is starting their sophomore year of high school.
Looking back, those years were incredibly tough, but they were just a small chapter in the grand scheme of our lives.
We learned to lean on each other, and we grew so much closer through those long hours, sleepless nights, fussy babies, living apart, tight finances, and countless other challenges.
I wouldn’t trade any of it because it taught us resilience. We got resourceful and found an amazing support network within the medical community.
We’re now on the other side of the training years, and I’m so grateful we went through it all together. It made us who we are today.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you find it encouraging.