Historical Tidbits: A column
by DONN BROOKS

Memorandum to teachers: Treat your students kindly, they might become your surgeons. It happened to me and I am tub-thumping, bucket-beating proud of Dr. Christina Sheely, who was Tina Rhietmeir when I had her in the eighth grade. I taught her United States history.

I had a knee go out recently and wound up looking for an orthopedist. Quite by accident I found her in Kyle at the Seton Family of Doctors on Highway 1626 right across from the Whataburger. Very professionally she stepped into the room, took one look, and busted me for her eighth grade history teacher. I remember that we had a running argument about how her name should properly be pronounced and I recall that she was a good, well-behaved student. The issue about her name was all in jest, of course, although I have always had a fascination with names and variant pronunciations and never hesitated to draw students out along those lines since there is usually some history involved.

Even though I professed fear of her operating on me, the truth of the business was that I was instantly comfortable with her. When I asked her if she had ever performed such an operation she gave her trademark eye roll and said, “about three hundred a year.” I had planned to talk my way through surgery, but the oddest thing was that the sedative they gave me sent me straight to sleep. I sense some collusion between the surgeon and the anesthetist, but for the life of me I cannot imagine someone, particularly a former student, not wanting to hear my monologue. Just doesn’t make sense, if you follow my logic.

Dr. Sheely did such a bang up job that I never felt any pain whatsoever and the pain I had been experiencing vanished. One week later she saw me and released me to begin a walking regimen. Encourage me to stick with it.

It was Kyle’s Seton Hospital where the surgery was performed. They did a good job on all counts.

My version of the progression of her education is that my splendid teaching of history inspired her to attend medical school and learn to operate on old knees. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

Hokey as it sounds, though, this school district has a lot to be proud of in terms of professional people who are graduates of Hays High School. I am proud to have been a part of it.

And today, my knee tells me that Tina Rhietmeir ranks up there at the top. Thanks, Dr. Sheely.