The Glow of My Lamp (A Nurse Shares her Life)

About the Book

In her "vignette" memoir, Judy Sharp tells how Nursing became the gateway to a life she aspired to. Born during the depression of immigrant Austrian parents in the steel city of Gary, Indiana, her pragmatic choice of a "practical" career instead of the artistic career she preferred, paid off big. She was able to have both! Not only did she find that her nursing and medical school peers shared her musical and writing interests, but so did a senior staff physician - they married, had a daughter, worked, traveled. Judy meanwhile pursued her studies in music and writing, and sang semi-professionally. Upon the death of her husband, she nursed in commercial corporations, and Marshall Fields. She married her present husband, a cinmatographic-writer, and continued nursing and pursuing her artistic interests. Now retired, she is presently a nurse consultant for a group of Chicago Alternative Schools ("the most challenging experience of all!") schools for disturbed children who have been forced to leave traditional public schools because of unacceptable behaviour.

Judy's desire in compiling this small work is to underscore how Nursing brought her a rich and full life. At the time when our country is in dire need of nurses, she hopes this glimpse of her life will inspire others to think of how a nursing career, with its endless opportunities and rewards, can be both a pragmatic and artistic choice.

About the Author

Judith Sharp grew up in northern Indiana. She became a nurse at Mount Sinai School of Nursing in Chicago where she met and married senior staff member, the late Dr. Samuel Solomon JR. She studied literature at Northwestern University and Voice with Madame Sonia Sharnova at the Chicago Conservatory of Music. Judith lives in Chicago with her husband Charles, and cinematographer and writer. Her daughter Kate, and husband, John, have two children, Jessica and Jacob. Judith presently is an R.N. consultant for an Alternative School firm under the auspices of Dr. Stuart Berger.

Judith has had poetry published in the United States, Israel and Cyprus. Besides this memoir, she is presently writing about experiences with Chicago Alternative Schools and the troubled children therein.