Dr. TB

"He has been interested in medicine forever. He got certified and worked as an EMT while in high school, partly to see if he could tolerate gore. He had an enormous, full-color illustrated book of medical conditions-I used to call it the Big Book of Innards-and he'd read it for fun. He doesn't seek gross-outs, but they don't intimidate him, either."

"Better than that, though, he actually cares about people. When he worked in a free clinic in Charlottesville, he worked with people who were dealing with some pretty terrible conditions and life events. His instinctive egalitarianism came through; he treated everyone with respect. I'd love to take some credit for that, but he had it even as a young child. When he was five, two-year-olds flocked to him. He was always tall for his age; something about a gentle giant puts people at ease."

"When TB and TG were approaching college age, we told each of them that we'd do everything in our power to support them through four years of college, but anything after that would have to be on them. There's no financial aid for retirement. They understood and got the message that finishing in four years would be a very good idea. He finished on time, and she's on track to finish on time in May."

The son has been accepted to medical school after applying to about a dozen programs and remains waitlisted at several appealing options. None of the accepted schools are in New York City, so he and his girlfriend face relocation and adult decisions. He developed an enduring interest in medicine, earned EMT certification in high school, and read a graphic medical book for enjoyment. He volunteered in a free clinic treating people with severe conditions and showed instinctive egalitarianism and respect. Family committed to paying four years of college but expects him to fund medical school and handle subsequent financial choices.

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