A Tale of a Mother, Her Three Boys, and Their Dog: The Love Story of a Father for His Family

By Byron B. Oberst M.D. FAAP

This tale is one of the great romances of modern times and is accompanied by the many trials and tribulations endured by an average family. It contains love, pathos, adventures, travels and hardships which confronted an ordinary family and how they handled these situations. There are many light and entertaining and some rather sad moments described in this Tale. This is a story for light and entertainment reading.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 5, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477279113

Byron B. Oberst M.D. FAAP

Dr. Oberst is a ninety-two [92] year old author of medical books including a Trilogy on his many medical experiences. He was in the private practice of pediatrics for thirty-seven [37]years. He was certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. He was a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He was very active within the American Academy of Pediatrics at the national level for over fifteen {15] years. He has received many awards and accolades. He was the President of the Omaha Children’s Clinic P.C. for over twenty {20} years. In addition to his large general pediatric practice, he had a very large consultative practice. He was a pioneer in the use of the Exchange Transfusion for the rH negative mother with an rH positive infant. He was an early participant in the private practice of Adolescent Medicine; was a leader in caring for children and adolescents with the Attention Deficit Disorder with and without Hyperactivity. He was an early proponent in the use of computers in pediatrics. He was an authority in private practice office management. He retired from medical practice in 1988. He now lives in the Immanuel Lakeside Village Retirement Facility in Omaha, Nebraska.

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© 2012 by Byron B. Oberst M.D., FAAP. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse   10/30/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-7913-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-7912-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-7911-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012919139

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Acknowledgements

Prologue

Preface

Chapter 1 The Beginning of our Odyssey

Chapter 2 To New York City by Mistake

Chapter 3 Fort Dix, New Jersey—A Wonderful Year

Chapter 4 Our Honeymoon Cruise to Japan

Chapter 5 Bon Voyage and Welcome to Detroit

Chapter 6 A Return to Omaha and Starting Our Practice Life

Chapter 7 Starting Sports and Having Fun

Chapter 8 Family Trips, and Fun

Chapter 9 The High School Years

Epilogue

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By, Terry, Matt, and Prince

Dedication

To the memory of my Beloved Mary, who

Joined the Angels on May 31, 2011

My Sons: Byron, Terrance, and Matthew and Their Wives

My Grandsons: Matthew, Justin, and Conor and Their Wives

My Great Grandchildren: John, Annabelle, Sam and Newborn, Penelope Rose

A major thank you to Isabella A., who suggested that I write a sequel to Reflections on Pediatric Medicine 1943 to 2010-A Dual True Love Story

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Mary and Obie

Acknowledgements

To my Beloved Mary, who was my inspiration for me to always strive to do my best, to be kind, and to work to better myself as a person and as a human being. She always treated me as though I was her Knight in Shining Armor. She sent me forth each morning to save lives and to stamp out disease. Holding her hand was like holding magic in mine. Her whimsy humor was precious to enjoy.

To my sons and their friends, who are the main sources of the material for this Tale.

To my major editor, Terrance Oberst, who once again wielded his red pen with great gusto and with much glee. and

To Penny Albers for her final Proof Reading and Critique of this Novel.

Books by B.B. Oberst M.D., FAAP

Practical Guidance for Pediatric and Adolescent Practice

Computer Applications to Private Practice—A Primer

Co-Editor: R. Reid M.D.

Computers in Private Practice Management

Co-Author: J. Long PhD

Reflections on Pediatric Medicine from 1943 to 2010

A True Dual Love Story

Prologue

From the vast vistas of time, this story is one of the great romances of the century. Once upon a time about sixty-seven years ago near the end of the great depression, a lovely fairy princess, named Mary Catherine, fell in love with a poor peasant boy, Byron. Why? He never really found out after all those years of together. This peasant boy first saw Mary when he was a premedical student, and she was graduating from South High School. Mary was an usherette at the Orpheum Theatre. She was standing like a beautiful statue under a spot light. She was literally a dream come true. Her beauty took your breath away. She had long, shiny raven black hair was parted in the middle with a prominent widow’s peak. Her big brown, expressive eyes made this peasant boy melt whenever he looked at her. Her fair complexion was clear and definitely Celtic in nature. Mary was the true embodiment of serenity and femininity in a lady with all the attractive female curves in all the right places. She was a lovely sight to behold.

Byron did not see her again until he worked at the beautiful Royal Grove outdoor ballroom at Peony Park. This is the place where over a hundred peonies and other colorful flowers filled the air with their scent of sweet perfume. The Royal Grove Outdoor Ballroom was a favorite stop for most of the Big Bands at that time. The dance floor was as smooth as glass and had subdued lighting around the edges. A train passed this area just across the Papio Creek and whistled its plaintiff wail as it passed by about 11:50 pm each evening. This whistle signified the end of another enchanted evening.

There were terrace tables around the periphery of the dance floor where people sat sipping cokes between music sets. This location was the epitome for a very romantic setting. The indoor ballroom was equally well designed, enhanced with subdued décor, and was once again, a very romantic place to take a date.

This peasant worked at both of these ballrooms in various capacities while going to pre-med classes at the University of Omaha. He became aware of a very beautiful girl dancing like a feather in the arms of many different partners on many various nights. Lo and behold, this was the very same girl that he saw at the Orpheum Theatre several years before. Obviously, her many and various dates were home on leave as they were in uniform. They brought her to Peony Park to enjoy their time at home.

At long last and after much inquiring around, Byron learned that her name was Mary Catherine Nadolny. He wanted to meet her in the worst way, but could not locate anyone who knew her. Life went on and on without meeting her, but he held on to his dream. Finally, his big chance came. His friend, Bob Stitt, was home on leave from the south Pacific. He was a marine fighter pilot and had worked with Mary at the Orpheum Theatre. He and Byron were friends from North High School and the University of Omaha, now the University of Nebraska at Omaha. I asked Bob if he would get a date with Mary; we would double date; and we would go dancing at Peony Park. By now, I was a junior in medical school. How tempus flugit!

Sometimes, dreams do come true. I made a date with a previous acquaintance from North High School. We went dancing as a foursome. I soon learned that Mary was a very special lady with a quiet, soothing, and kind personality. She had the facility to listen closely while you were speaking. She made you think as though you were the most important being in the world. This night was a glorious one for me even though she was not my date.

We went to the Blackstone Hotel for a bite to eat after the dance. I remember that I babbled like a brook while at Peony and when we were at the coffee shop. She seemed to listen intently to whatever I was saying. On the way home, Edna said that Mary seemed to be very interested in me. Edna was just a dear friend from high school and college. She was dating a fellow med student.

The first meeting I had with Mary was in early February 1945. I subsequently had tried and tried to arrange a date with this beautiful girl but without much success. In desperation, I asked, If she was giving me a polite brush off. No No, she said. I am just dated up until the eleventh of March. On the phone, I asked, May I have the pleasure of your company on that date, and we would go to Peony dancing in the gorgeous indoor ballroom. My dreams came to pass. We did go on this momentous date which changed my life forever.

Dancing with her was like dancing with a dream. At the end of the first set of music, she took my hand as we walked off of the dance floor. Her touch was magic. In order for this fairy queen to become aware of this lowly peasant, he would mail her silly letters written on wall paper and other ones that told its contents using pictures cut out of magazines to illustrate the words instead of the printed letters. He really had fallen fast and hard for this fair damsel.

Whenever this peasant would hold her hand in the years to come, he could sense the magic it contained. This feeling of magic never left him for all of their sixty-six years together. This magic began on the night of their first date, March 11, 1945. I have celebrated this date for evermore because my dreams had finally begun to come true. The lights were low, the music soothing and melodious. This magic persisted in her hands until she went back home to the angels in heaven some sixty-six years later.

We dated every weekend thereafter. After about our fifth date and with great trepidations, I asked if I could kiss her good night. She agreed. I was in heaven and was very old fashioned by today’s dating standards. Bells, bright colored lights, and whistles went off in my mind. Music played, and I could hear the angels sing. I wanted to marry her in May. My jeweler friend, Al Kauss obtained a lovely set of platinum rings with a diamond that was large for that time period. Mary said, NO Way! I do not know you well enough to even give such a foolish thought any consideration. I was devastated. We continued to date until mid June when she sent me a Dear John Letter. Needless to say, I was lost, devastated, and in the depths of despair.

Mary went to a wedding in O’Neil, Nebraska for a fellow worker at the World Insurance Company and a good friend of hers in early July 1945. On her return from the wedding, she called me and asked if we could talk. Needless to say, I not only counted the hours, but I am afraid that I counted even the minutes until I saw her. I literally broke speed records on my way to be with her. My world was being restored. We met. She told me that she missed me. Hallelujah! Later in the summer, she accepted my ring. We were officially engaged. My dreams were on their way to coming true. We were married at St John’s Church on the Creighton campus December 27, 1945 on my Christmas break at the medical school. The Church and alter were beautifully decorated with flowers. Aldean A. sang Panis Angelicas and Ave Maria. It seemed to me there were angels, who joined in singing the music. My sister, Annabelle, said that my face lit up with the brightest radiant light and smile of blissful happiness that she had ever seen. Apparently, I beamed until my face hurt. Our marriage was a dream come true for me. I had always wanted to marry a nice Catholic girl. She was it and then some! What more can I say? Now, I was a senior in med school and scheduled to graduate in March of 1946.

This fairy princess ruled her family kingdom with much love and affection. She was no maudlin push over. She had a kind but firm hand within a velvet glove. When something or someone displeased her, The Look and Extreme Cold Shoulder quickly registered her displeasure. The recipient culprits of her displeasure would stop their nefarious ways right in their tracks and try hard to return to her good graces. She had a wonderful whimsical and wry sense of humor which was so engaging. She had the knack of making strangers feel at ease.

She lived a long and fruitful life amidst her faithful subjects, who loved her with a fierce passion. Whenever we would go to some type of medical gathering, she would dress very carefully in her finery. I would be the envy of the other doctors and/or their wives as she always looked so exquisite and well groomed. In her later years, her health and body became frail, gradually became tired, and finally ran out of gas on the day of eighty-eight years of age on her exact birthday. She went back to heaven with her family by her side. She has continued to look after her family from afar. I had always prayed for a Catholic wife who would quietly and peacefully pass away before me and without any pain of discomfort. My prayers were more than answered.

Both Byron and Mary were depression era children. Byron lived in a comfortable well to do family life until he was ten years old when the roof fell in on his life. His father walked out on his family never to return. His life went from one of comfort to near poverty as his Mother had no skills with which to earn a living. She received no child support. Byron’s first job was at the age of eleven when he burned trash papers for a neighborhood hamburger stand for twenty-five cents per week. At twelve, he peddled his bike for the Carter Lake Pharmacy for ten cents an hour.

Mary’s Father was a skilled professional artisan as a brick layer. He could make bricks sing and dance with glee. Unfortunately, building construction was in the doldrums and work was scarce during those depression years. Mary began working in her junior year at South High School as an usherette at the Orpheum Theatre for seven dollars per week. She would frugally buy nice clothes on the lay-a-way plan by paying so much per week at the fashionable Aquila Court store. She purchased two lovely Free Lark suits in this manner—one green and one yellow. She looked gorgeous in both of these suits. Both Byron and Mary had learned to handle money in a very frugal manner.

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The Oberst Family

A Tale of a Mother, Her Three Boys, and Their Dog

The love story of a Father for His Family

Preface

One of the most satisfying aspects in the practice of Pediatrics is that the physician has a front row seat in the whole panorama of life. You watch, listen, and participate in many family dramas whether you are invited or not. This inclusion in families may go on for years and years. Some of my families I cared for thirty years as I had been a pioneer in the field of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine. I cared for some patients up to the age of thirty when I deemed that it was time for them to move on. I was a grandpa doctor at least one hundred times in being the pediatrician who cared for the babies of my former patients.

Though I had not anticipated writing another book after my most recent one, Reflections on Pediatric Medicine from 1943 to 2010-A Dual Love Story, a casual remark by a nice, elderly lady who apparently liked this book asked, When might I write a sequel? This remark sent my mind into a tizzy mulling all of the possibilities. I had been floundering around looking for my next project to engage in. The more I contemplated this idea, the more appealing it became. This current book is the end result.

There were many small and large episodes in our family life which were not included in my previous work. That book had been pitched towards the many amazing changes and innovations that I had encountered during my medical practice life. In addition to my medical adventures, that book included a brief and scanty insight into our family life. This new project seemed to cry out for input regarding my family as experienced by our three very active and busy sons and their dog, Duke. Duke was a family member for fourteen years. This book will be comprised of the pleasures, heartaches, the good times and some bad experiences with our sons until they left home for college. As I have stated, it had been quite a feat to balance the privacy for family life versus the required need for privacy in my practice life. Unfortunately, any physician must live in two totally disconnected and different worlds—his/her medical practice and home life.

Unfortunately, my