While I was at the hospital, my pager kept going off and I had to return multiple calls to patients, call in prescriptions, ?and didn'?t get done with that until almost 11:30 PM. I had to get up at 4:30 to catch my flight, go through security and check my luggage. The connecting flight in Minneapolis was delayed and it looked like I wasn'?t going to make it to Los Angeles on time. At the last minute the flight was able to leave and I was on my way to Los Angeles. Once the plane landed, I got my luggage and caught a shuttle bus to the car rental complex. I stood in a long line to get my car, signed the documents, found the car and loaded my luggage. When I finally got to the gate, the security guard took my driver?s license. ?Happy birthday. Your license expired yesterday.?
In the Spirit of Medicine features the essays of Dr. Arne Vainio, an enrolled member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and a family practice doctor on the Fond Du Lac reservation in Cloquet. His essays on life, work, medicine, and spirit are published in News from Indian Country and you can find the link to this story here.