respiratory therapist

My sister, Caryl Reed is younger than me by three years. She was always the ticklish one in the family…or at least the one who was the most fun to torture. That made her the “victim” of numerous attacks by all of the rest of her four sisters. We were probably brutal in some ways, because lets face it…not breathing is probably not good for a person. Nevertheless, we tickled for as long as we dared…stopping just short of the point of Caryl passing out. I think the Tickle Torture was a dreaded source of pleasure, for lack of a better term. Tickling doesn’t hurt, and some people even like light tickling, but the torture part was definitely a source of dread…for Caryl anyway. Caryl survived those torture years, got married, and moved away…go figure. It wasn’t her idea exactly, but I’m sure se didn’t miss the Tickle Torture while she was gone, and now that she lives closer, we don’t seem to attack her anymore. Still. she is always the potential “victim” in my mind.

Caryl has learned how to monitor breathing, as a respiratory therapist, so maybe we could tickle her even longer now…hmmm!! Still, she doesn’t live close enough for any kind of daily attacks. Caryl works at the Memorial Hospital of Carbon County in Rawlins, Wyoming, and is a respected, essential employee there. In fact, there are things they would have a hard time handling if she were not there. Caryl is dedicated to her job and her patients, and we are all very proud of her accomplishments.

Caryl and her husband, Mike Reed are working on their retirement home, that will ultimately bring them back to Casper to stay. They have purchased a piece of land out on the Old Poison Spider Road…which takes me back to my own childhood years, when a friend of mine lived out there. They are building a beautiful home there with a huge garage, and beautiful living area. Caryl has always wanted to have horses, and they currently board horses there. It’s a win-win situation for her. Eventually they will live there permanently, and then hopefully they can have horses of their own. Either way, their place is a great place to live, and while it’s further outside of town than I want to be these days, they love it. Today is Caryl’s birthday. Happy birthday Caryl!! Watch out for tickle attacks, because I might mention this to Mike or Andrea. Have a great day!! We love you!!

Caryl abt 4th gradeI wrote a story back in May of 2011, about my sister Caryl Spencer Reed, who is so ticklish that we used to torture her unmercifully over the years of her young life. That story has by far received the most comments of any story I have written. Apparently it doesn’t matter if you are the one tickling, the one being tickled, or the one wishing you could be the one tickling, everyone has an opinion on tickling. Of course, my sisters and I didn’t really have to think about that, because we had the perfect victim right there in our house, and she had nowhere to go. She was trapped.

The years have flown by now, and my sisters and I have matured to the point where we don’t torture her anymore, although, we might…if the opportunity presented itself. Caryl's great smileNevertheless, it hasn’t in many years. Caryl went on to become a respiratory therapist, and it really never occurred to me before, but I wonder if the reason is that during those torture sessions, she felt like she needed oxygen. I guess knowing that you are being tickled to the point that you can’t breathe, might make you consider oxygen…the very moment that you are finally released…if you live long enough to be released, that is. After all, we did call it the Tickle Trture, and we meant that torture part, for sure.

SistersMany people have been helped by the skills Caryl has, and I know that the hospital she works at in Rawlins, Wyoming is grateful that they have her. In fact, in the last few months, she has been their only respiratory therapist, and that is bad, because she can’t work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but she is on call…all the time. That has been a struggle, because Caryl and her husband, Mike have been working on a ranch they bought here in Casper to retire on and raise horses. She has had to be available by phone to walk people through proceedures that she has trained them on, but that are not a part of their formal training. Nevertheless, it is working…for now, and I know they are working to replace some of the other respiratory therapists, so in the future, things will get easier. For now, Caryl is their Go To Girl, and they are well aware of what a perfect gem they have been blessed with. Today is Caryl’s birthday. Happy birthday Caryl!! Have a great day!! We love you!!

Teenaged Caryl

Yesterday, we went to a barbecue at my sister, Caryl and her husband, Mike’s place out west of Casper. It is a place they are actually working on, and plan to live on when the retire. For now, they live in Rawlins, where he is a supervisor at the Sinclair Refinery and she is a Respiratory Therapist at the Memorial Hospital of Carbon County. The land they purchased will give them the opportunity to do something Caryl has wanted to do for as long as I can remember…have horses.

When Caryl was younger, she decided that she wanted to learn to ride horses, and she began taking riding lessons…oddly in the same general area of the land she and Mike have now Cowgirl Carylpurchased. Caryl loved those riding lessons, and became quite good at riding. Then, as with all of us, life takes us down a different road than the one we expected to take, and the plans we had made in our youth are traded for the plans we will now make as adults. After moving to San Diego, California, and then to Bremmerton, Washington, and finally Twin Falls, Idaho, she found herself back in Casper, and then moving to Rawlins. There weren’t many opportunities to ride horses where she was living.

Now, coming full circle, her life’s journey will once again place her in Casper, and living in a place where she can finally realize a dream that she has had for so many years. It didn’t occur to me that Caryl might actually be a country girl. I had lived in the Happy Country Girlcountry for 16 years, before realizing that the country was not where I wanted to be, and Caryl had lived all her life in town, and now plans to be a country girl. It is so strange how life changes sometimes.

I’m so excited for Caryl to be able to realize her dream. She seems so much in her element. It’s funny how I never really saw the cowgirl in her before. It’s just right for her. I’m sure she feels like their retirement can’t come soon enough. Today is Caryl’s birthday, so I guess she is one year closer to that big day. Happy birthday Caryl!! Have a great day!! We love you!!

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