On the afternoon of Thursday November 2nd, 2023, 24 classmates from The Hospital for Sick Children School of Nursing class of 1973 began to check in at the Sheraton Centre Hotel in downtown Toronto to begin celebrating 50 years since graduating. Four of our classmates shared 2 adjourning rooms which quickly became the “hospitality suite”.
Yearbooks were plentiful as were photo albums and we even had a computer slide show with photo’s continuously running. The talking and laughing was non-stop. Pizza was ordered and it felt like we were reliving a group dinner in residence! There are few words to adequately describe the overwhelming joy of being together again. Some had not seen others for 50 years!!!
On Friday Nov 3rd 29 classmates spent the day together at SickKids. A full day itinerary was developed for us by the Hospital’s RN Council Co-chairs and included presentations about the past, the present and the future. A few tours were also conducted. Some classmates had not been back to the hospital since graduation!
Later that evening 26 of us gathered in a private room at the Oliver and Bonacini Café Grill for a wonderful dinner together. Then it was back to the hotel for after dinner chats, story telling, fond reminiscing and memory sharing so perfectly described by Sue (Bell) Enns: “visiting friends with our legs stretched out sitting in our jammies on the cold terrazzo residence floor, telephone calls out of the telephone booth, two slices of toast with butter and jam wrapped in paper towel from Mrs. Tillie’s kitchen in the basement, jumping the elevator to skip floors (one time it stopped between floors and we had to crawl out), macaroni and cheese in oval dishes in the HSC cafeteria paid for with our room key, running back to residence via the dark hospital tunnel, and lining up on the circular drive to welcome Queen Elizabeth. So many memories of a very formative time of our lives”.
Saturday morning we gathered for breakfast and made promises to stay in touch and to make sure another reunion happens in at least 5 years! Everyone agreed that an amazingly good time was had by all!
Janet Gammon
