Jeanne Wilson Essay

Jeanne Wilson was employed as a nurse at the Mary McClellan hospital in the late 1970s. While employed there she heard tale of â€Å"The Pink Lady† who roamed the halls of the maternity ward and seemed drawn to a certain room, with a particular patient. â€Å"Well, when I was working at the Mary McClellan Hospital in Cambridge (that’s just across the river from here) I had the night watch of the maternity ward. The other nurses used to tell me to watch myself up there because of this pink lady. I most certainly believe in ghosts although I have never seen any myself you understand. I was never really afraid, I just figured she’d be peaceful and never bother any of us doing the good work up on the floor. Sometimes at night you would hear the swoosh, swoosh of someone’s bathrobe rubbing on their legs or the scuffle sound of slippers on the floor. There would never be anyone there, but you’d hear it just the same. This one time we had a lady come in who was dying. She was an older woman and the nurses really loved her. Well, she asked to die on the maternity ward so all of the nurses felt this was ok. We brought her up and got her settled. It was a very small hospital you know. Anyway, I was checking in patients late at night and as I was walking past her room, I noticed the door was shut. I looking in through the little window on those doors and there was the pink lady! She had pink curlers in her hair, a pink robe on, and pink slip-on kind of slippers on her feet! Well, I almost died myself right there. I couldn’t believe my eyes. When I caught my breath, I peeked back in the door to see her just standing over the old woman just watching her sleep. I creaked open the door and sure enough she disappeared. They said the pink lady only walked the maternity ward because she had lost all of her children in those rooms. When she died of cancer later on, she had asked to be in the maternity ward to die like her children! Well, I never expected her to visit this woman. Of course, when I think of it now, it makes perfect sense! They don’t deliver babies in the hospital anymore – actually its not even a hospital now. But, that’s the pink lady and I’m telling you – she’s real. † Ms. Wilson states this story as a full-fledged memory from her past. While employed at the hospital she points out others telling her this singular truth, and denied knowledge of any other tales of this nature in the ward. The story comes from a region other than place interviewed, not allowing for cross-reference with other individuals. Hospital stories of this nature are found throughout history, with a higher concentration surrounding Civil War hospitals. The time-frame for the inception of the tale can best be ascertained as the 1950s era due to the physical description of the pink lady. One can assume the story originated at that time. The telling was very excited with strong body language used throughout. Exaggerated facial expressions and multiple hand manipulations of air demonstrated actual behavior during the encounter. The skills of her trade do not enter the story, nor are they necessary other than putting Ms. Wilson in the hospital after hours. Ms. Wilson was interviewed with her elderly mother present. This parent did not obviously believe the tale, nor did she appreciate the telling of it. This did not hinder the younger Wilson woman; in fact, she seemed eager for acceptance of the tale. The recording of her story may well have promoted a more fascinating telling of the story with added bits of detail. The education level of Ms. Wilson was undetermined. Apparently, she is not a qualified nurse, having never gone to school to keep up with the educational demands of the field. She currently works in a rest home. The idea of her having been a nurse at the time appeared to have given the tale more validity in her mind as she felt it was a scientific study of sorts. She was reminded of the nature of the recording. References Wilson, J. (personal communication, October 14, 2006)