Elle had to get blood drawn today and apparently freaks out at the process as badly as I do, faints every time same as I do, and so we were chatting about it first a while and it reminded me of when, at 21, I was still seeing my pediatrician for some reason. Harvey Simovich. I went in for some blood work and one of his nurses, who was apparently just a year or two older than me and somewhat new to the game, opened a needle in front of me and got a little panicked by my own panicking, my hyperventilating, my flailing, the shrill nervous giggle.

She left the room for a minute and came back with a blue puppet on her hand. A dolphin. Started talking to me through the puppet in what was either a nervous breakdown of her own or a tragically sincere effort to console a boyishly petrified man.

I was so humiliated, my fear kinda melted away.

I extended my veins and encouraged her to open em up.