"All She Needs Is A Prescription For A Good Friend"

On this episode of Our American Stories, Lorna Jean, the woman who needed that prescription, tells the story of how the wife of the doctor helping her with her mental health struggles filled that prescription and changed her life. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:14):
And we returned to our American stories. And up next
a writing student of one of our favorite contributors, a
terrific writer herself, Leslie Leyland fields. Her student's name Lorna Jean. Today,
Lorna shares the story of a close friend, a doctor
who helped her through some of the toughest times of

(00:35):
her life. Let's get into the story. Take it away, Lorna.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Doctor F wearily dropped his well worn leather briefcase in
the front hall, finally home after a very frustrating day
at the office. Allison, his wife, hearing the door, stopped
washing the dishes and wiping her hands on her pants,
went to greet her partner. She took one look at

(01:03):
his drawn, pale face and knew it had not been
a good day. What happened today, she gently inquired. Doctor
f was head of psychiatry at the hospital's Child and
Family unit. He was used to dealing with tough cases,
but some of these clients refused to stay at the office.

(01:26):
They came home with him, troubling him with their tragic lives.
If only I could give her a prescription for one
good friend, he mumbled, that's what she needs so badly.
This was around nineteen eighty four and I was a

(01:48):
mere twenty five years old. I had been seeing doctor
F three times a week for several years, and we
were going nowhere. I was complet depletely closed up, allowing
no one near me. I was the one who needed
one good. Fred Allison, his wife, was also a doctor

(02:12):
and was often seen around the same hospital in her
customary scrubs, her short brown hair tucked up under a
colorful cap. She had a natural beauty and innate kindness
in her features. She never wore makeup, and when in
street clothing, she dressed sensibly, simply, and often with a

(02:35):
lovely sweater or vest that she had knitted. She wasn't
just a doctor, she was world renowned in the field
of neonatal anesthesiology. Meanwhile, I was bouncing in and out
of the psychiatric ward of the hospital like an out
of control ping palm ball. Allison decided she would stop

(03:00):
and visit me on her many daily tracks around the hospital.
Allison has told me over the years that those first
visits were awkward for her.

Speaker 3 (03:11):
She didn't know me and didn't know what to talk about,
and she was dealing with the girl who pulling teeth
would have been easier than getting her to talk, but
Allison's persistence paid off, and gradually we found things to
talk about, especially our faith.

Speaker 2 (03:31):
Our visits continued even when I was out of the hospital.
We would meet at a coffee shop or go for
a walk at the conservation area, where she taught me
how to entice the chickadees to eat out of my
own hand. Soon a special bond began to form between us.

(03:52):
I learned I could talk to her about anything, and
I marveled, not only then, but throughout the years of
our friendship at her amazing wisdom she possessed. I had
never met anyone like her. Allison visited almost every week.

(04:14):
I would make her favorite ginger peach herbal tea while
I sipped on my regular tea, and we would talk
and talk, and talk and talk some more. When I
was having a crisis, it was Alison who came over.
Doctor f being male, felt it was unprofessional to come alone.

(04:37):
One night, I was having a very difficult autistic meltdown
and was trying to protect myself from unseen intruders by
lightly clutching several sharp knives. Alison, recognizing it was a
tense situation and I was not thinking straight. Calmly tried

(04:58):
talking me back to reality, but I wasn't responding. Then suddenly,
in her wonderful wisdom, she exclaimed loudly, I really need
a cup of tea. That broke the spell, and I
immediately dropped the knives and plugged in the kettle. For

(05:20):
most of these years, Alison was not only a best friend,
but a mentor, a spiritual advisor, teacher, and a pseudo
mother figure. She embodied everything I needed during those years
to keep going day by day. I didn't know I
had autism men but this miraculous lifelong friendship was like

(05:44):
a special gift from Heaven to help me through my
messed up life. After a number of years, doctor f
fell ill with cancer and tragically died months later. I
was devastated, but Allison and I had each other as
we grieved together. I spoke before over four hundred people,

(06:09):
including his colleagues, at his funeral about this man who
helped change my life. Allison then started doing overseas medical
missions trips, going to remote areas of the world like Nepal,
remote parts of the Philippines, and Vietnam. She taught other

(06:29):
doctors and the country's own doctors to use Age's old
equipment to still do medical marvels for those who would
otherwise never receive care. She was renowned for amassing huge
amounts of cast off medical supplies that she arranged to
be shipped to remote overseas hospitals. Back home, she toured

(06:54):
and spoke to the medical professionals on working in those
other countries. When I was trying to arrange to buy
a townhouse condo, I was struggling to come up with
a suitable down payment. Allison took me out for a
walk one day and said to me, I want to
give you your inheritance now so you can get your house,

(07:18):
and she handed me a check for a substantial amount.
I was not a family member. I had no idea
about any inheritance. I have no words beautiful enough to
say to her how much this has meant in her honor.
I have given my house to God for him to

(07:40):
bring to my door whoever needs a place of refuge,
safety and rest. It's his house, not mine. I just
get the daily immense pleasure of living here. Our friendship

(08:01):
has spanned almost forty years of our lives. Now she
is in her late seventies and on the memory ward
in a retirement home. I visit her now. Allison has Alzheimer's,
and every time I go visit, I see the light
get a little dimmer in her once sparkling eyes. She

(08:24):
is frail and conversation is getting harder. This once brilliant
doctor now has trouble remembering her daughter's names. She tells
me the same thing over and over, and I nod
and agree as if I had never heard it before.

(08:45):
Every visit, Allison gives me a hug as we say goodbye.
Her hugs are the best of anyone I have ever known.
Even now, Alzheimer's has not destroyed either her hugs or
her life loving friendship. Although she has given so much
to me over the years, it is now my turn

(09:08):
to give to her. Each time I leave, my heart weeps.
It weeps for what was and for what is coming.
One day, I know she will not know who I am,
but I will always know this dear lady who has
blessed my life in ways I am still discovering. I

(09:32):
know I have had what few people have had in
their lifetime. I had a prescription for one good friend.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
And a terrific job on the production, editing and storytelling
by our own Monte Montgomery and Reagan Habib, And a
special thanks to Lorna Jean for sharing this heartbreaking and
beautiful story. At nineteen eighty four, the twenty five year
old Lorna Jean was seeing a psychiatrist in a hospital
and she had what people didn't know then, nor was

(10:21):
it diagnosed autism And what a thing to suffer from
without knowing what you're suffering from. And well, what she
got was what doctor f her psychiatrist, had always said
many mental health patients needed, which was not a pill,
but one good friend. The story of friendship and the

(10:43):
story in the end of love, the story of Lorna
Jean here on our American Stories