Marjorie Black Tortorella

We all have plans and dreams, but life itself can surely change them. After graduation from A.B. Davis, September came very quickly. Westchester School of Nursing, Grasslands Hospital, Valhalla, NY was my home for three years until Sept. 1960. Forty-two students saw illnesses and diseases and received rigorous training they had never thought about before now. The 21 who graduated became family members and registered professional nurses. Guess what? Five from A.B. Davis entered and five graduated…Marjorie Black, Sidney Blake, Janice Chaplin, Barbara Kane and Mary Reidy. Something to be said for learning determination. I have been part of the lives of patients and families at Grasslands Hospital, St. Agnes, St. Francis, and a nursing home in Poughkeepsie, NY for 22 years. However, I have worked at all levels but director, and never want that level. Presently, I am Adult Advocacy Program Specialist at Mental Health Assoc. in Dutchess County. Long title – many aspects of services. And I work per diem on call subbing as a school nurse. My husband, Robert and I live in the village of Highland, NY. Adoption was the most adventuresome, tragic, eye-opening and rewarding event of our lives. Our 15-year old daughter, Lindsay Megan, our soccer, science, basketball queen is our joy but also our challenge. Raising a teen today is nothing like 1957. Now maybe you remember the meek, quiet, scared me? I have had to be an advocate for so many, including fighting a foreign government to bring our daughter home, that one has to change. You choose between, learn and grow, or fall. My next adventures are trying to publish some of my poetry and writing a book on defects in mental health systems or adventures in adoption, with Lindsay’s wisdom included. She is the child that can always find an exception to the rule or a different way of looking at something. Needless to say, this is a challenge to her bookkeeper dad and her “wanting to protect her” mother. Lindsay can always find a way to fly without a plane or hug you when you’re hiding sadness.