Drew had another weekend in the hospital, and I ran up to DC to see our friend Katie that moved up there recently. It is cherry blossom time in DC, so we got to see the infamous trees in full bloom and generally take in the bustle of the Nation’s capital. Our hope was to go to the National Gallery of Art (one of my all time favorites) and the Newseum, but in the end we only had enough time to check out the Newseum. This is one of DC’s newest additions, and Katie and I were both really excited to spend some time poking around in it. The Newseum is dedicated to the history of journalism in all its forms, and also includes studios where current broadcasts (such as Inauguration coverage) are taped. We didn’t get to see everything, but some of the highlights were the Berlin Wall exhibit that has pieces of the wall on display, an extraordinarily moving exhibit about the 9/11 coverage, an actual armored truck adorned with bullet and shrapnel scars that consistently (and safely!) delivered the journalists inside to the front lines in Rwanda in the 90s, Ted Kaczynski’s cabin (very creepy), unique artifacts from the Lindbergh kidnapping and trial, a wonderful display of political comics, a huge exhibit about Hoover’s FBI and his hold on the media, and…so much more. Our stomachs eventually drove us back into the bright sun to find a late lunch, but already I am so excited to go back with Drew and take it all in a second time. That night we went to a really great show, Mates of State, at the 9:30 club and I like to think that the baby enjoyed his/her 1st concert.
For his part, Drew had a busy weekend at the hospital that included having to get pretty firm with an older gentleman that was bullying his family from his hospital bed. Drew finally put his foot down much to the relief of the man’s frazzled wife, and was widely thanked by the rest of the hospital staff. Although I’ve always had a sense of the intensity of the Intensive Care atmosphere (pun intended?), I am still always awed and impressed with how multifaceted Drew’s workday is. He is not only responsible for keeping people comfortable/alive/clean/fed/safely medicated etc, but he is also often working closely with the families of the patients which can be equal parts rewarding and frustrating. The family side of things has brought him everything from gifts of Godiva chocolates to having to work with police to physically restrain hysterical bleeding sisters after they punched through a glass window in their grief over their mother. Through it all, Drew maintains his wonderful sense of humor and a level head, and more than that, he’s able to compartmentalize his work days and walk through the front door of our house with lots of stories, but rarely any negativity from his work day.
So, pictures. Not surprisingly, Drew didn’t have any pictures of offer of his weekend (haha) but here are a couple from the Newseum.
Sections from the Berlin Wall
A little girl who was more interested in the world outside of the museum than the things in it…
The antenna that was on top of the World Trade Center
The Neweum walls are adorned with quotes (even the bathrooms) including the 1st Amendment reading 74 feet tall on the exterior of the building.
After all the seriousness, we had to goof off some! Here’s Katie with her new friend.
Flux Capacitating 