Photo courtesy of Neil "Fuzzy Lens" Golemo.
At 1:45 a.m. on Thursday, March 13th, a
group of people were dancing with wild abandon to Elvis Presley's
"Hound Dog" in a small circle next to the jukebox in the
back of O'Mally's Stage Door Pub. Turns were taken by all showcasing
a variety of dance moves, signature steps and Presley appropriate
gyrations.
The majority of these people dancing were UTMB
medical students. Future doctors, psychologists, pediatricians and so
on and so forth. Dancing. At 1:45 a.m. On a school night.
For
those not keeping score, last night was the St. Vincent's Clinic
Benefit Show at the Grand 1894 Opera House. For 3 hours various
students of UTMB sang, danced, cross dressed (you should have seen
those guys dance though), humored and entertained a packed house.
They, quite simply, couldn't have done a better job.
In my
brief few years of being an islander, I've been fortunate to develop
friendships with some of these medical students. They are creative,
funny, compassionate and quirky. Come next Thursday a lot of these
friends will find out where they leave to do their residency, marking
an end to this chapter of their lives in Galveston and starting a new
one on their road to giving me free medical advice and hopefully fun
vacation destinations to visit them.
Time is short here in
Galveston for those leaving and I've seen them begin to get a little
whimsical on the days they have left here. More trips to Star Drug
store are in order. Sonny's is open, we have to play shuffleboard
there soon. The weather is turning nice, better take a weekend walk
around town and see what's happening out there. Hell, Kristy even got
herself a facebook account just to stay in touch more
effectively.
The Galveston Spirit gets talked about a lot and
without getting too sappy on the subject, I can't see that spirit
being what it is without these UTMB students. They embrace the
island, contribute to it's diversity and advocate for it's
rebuilding. More selfishly, I can't imagine what my life and the
lives of my non-UTMB cohorts on the island would be like without
these great people. I know I'm not alone in that sentiment.
Last
night marked a first for myself and I have these great friends to
thank. I got the opportunity to play guitar with 14 of my favorite
future medical professionals at the Grand 1894 Opera
House. I can now say I've shared a stage with Lyle Lovett, Asleep at
the Wheel and Robert Earl Keen.
I just can't say it was on
the same night.
What I do get to say is more important though.
I get to say that I shared the stage with my friends John Ray,
Kaddilac Katie Kucera, Neisha, Kristy, KatieMac, Noelle, Joe, Kevin,
Clark, Chris & Angela (no relation but what a last name) Wright,
Travis, Alyssa and Margaret. I got to sit on the stage of the official opera house
of Texas and play music with friends.
For those that came out
to support, by all accounts it was a smashing success. For those that
I heckled into coming out to watch Galveston's own "Don't Quit
Your Day Job" band. Thank you. For those that didn't know I
played a guitar, I'm glad you couldn't hear me. I'd hate to have
proved you all right.
UPDATE: Check out IBC photog Adrienne Culpepper's photos from front row of the evenings festivities here.
