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My Father's Stethoscope
My Father’s Stethoscope
I remember pretty well, I was 7 years old when I first saw my father’s stethoscope. I admired the strange shape it had, two plastic extensions that clearly where made to be put on the ears and a metal circle that I had no idea why it was hanging at the end of another plastic extension. He used to keep it on a small black briefcase where he used to keep other medical tools to but, he made a special place for the stethoscope. No matter if the weather was good or bad, no matter if he was on a terrific or horrible mood, no matter if he had a bad or a good day, everyone in the house will have the certain that the stethoscope will be at the small black briefcase waiting for being used. Through the bad seasons where kids were no longer sick anymore, regularly during summer, through the good seasons where everyone was sick. The stethoscope will be collecting dust on that small black briefcase. Through the 1985 Mexico’s earthquake, which was a big catastrophe here, my brother and I could always count that the stethoscope will be there ready to step out and be ready to be used. Yes, guys, yes, my father was a doctor, actually, he was a really good doctor. I can remember my father’s absence at lunch time, my mother, my brother and I were sited at the table when suddenly we heard the door opening and my father was arriving at home while the stethoscope was hanging around my father’s neck. Sometimes there were new things on the small black briefcase, maybe a brand-new nebulizer or a reflex hammer, but the old-black-metal stethoscope will always remain in my memory. On particularly bad days, especially on Sundays, patients will knock my house door asking for my dad at 2 AM. My father, sleepy of course, will went downstairs, made the patients feel like home by sitting them on a big red couch that was located on the living room while he was looking for the small black briefcase with the intentions on finding his stethoscope so fast, so the patients could leave and he went back to sleep. My father loved to do what we has good at it, improving peoples health with the certain that they were attended by a pair of good hands and great medical equipment that were ready to be used at the very next day.
