Look at Nurse Martha Leland necking with her boyfriend, Party Time Phil. Some how I have the feeling that Phil is trying to talk Martha into going skinny dipping. I use to be a little party girl myself in my younger days. Fun was my middle name. I never wore my uniform or nurses cap when I went out on a date. That would have been tacky. Nursing uniforms aren’t glamorous, and God knows what kind of stains could have been lurking on my clothes when I left work.

It’s a fact. Nurses can get a little wild when we go out on the town, and we really know how to party. When I was young, it wasn’t a big deal to jump into a mini dress and stilettos, and go bar hopping with my girlfriends after work. Girl’s night out met drinking shots, picking up guys, and dancing until dawn. I had a weakness for university graduate students, Irishman, and medical students that looked like Party Time Phil. My girlfriends and I would go joyriding down main street while listening to REO Speedwagan. Oh yeah, let the good times roll.

Then my friends and I started getting older, and our ideas about life began to change. The night life started looking juvenile, and we stopped drinking until we passed out. I traded in my mini dress and stilettos for mom jeans, a sweater shirt, and a pair of sensible shoes. My friends and I settled down, got married, and started having children. We would still go out together, but we started meeting at McDonald’s. Our children ate their Happy Meals while we gossiped about work and traded grocery coupons. Throughout the years, we have lived through bad jobs, good marriages, and devastating divorces. We’ve supported each other through child birth, hot flashes, empty nest syndrome, and funerals. I can’t imagine life without my girlfriends. They are my rock. They help keep me sane.

My girlfriends and I have decided that we are going on a cruise some day. I wonder if Good Time Phil is still hanging around the pool trying to pick up nurses. He better be careful. Old party nurses are a wild bunch who still know how to have a good time.