Grateful

Two years ago today Nate asked me to marry him in the cadaver lab at BYU. Specifically the functional anatomy cadaver lab, man that was a great class. It was such a wonderful day. I was totally surprised, I didn't think for one second that he would propose while we were "breaking into" the cadaver lab haha. Watch out for nerd rebellion, it is pretty scary.
Now I am in PA school and am in a new anatomy class with a new cadaver lab. We actually get to dissect the cadavers and I must say that I absolutely love it. It is so amazing to be able to learn on an actual human body. I feel like it is invaluable to my education. No matter how many pictures, diagrams or animals you study it really is not the same as studying it on an actual human body. Our professors teach us about these anatomical relationships and then we get to discover them first hand in our cadavers. A lot of the relationships get disturbed throughout the dissection process and so prosected cadavers, like the ones I used at BYU, are often missing these relationships. When I found the superior mesenteric artery and vein actually coming from behind the pancreas to lie infront of the uncinate of the pancreas and 3rd part of the duodenum I flipped out. It was so cool to me for some reason. The whole abdominal dissection was like a giant treasure hunt for me. I felt like a little kid on a morbid Easter egg hunt.
Experiences like these make me so incredibly grateful for the individuals that volunteer there bodies so that others can learn. The man who is my cadaver didn't have to do that, and there are many good reasons why he wouldn't want to, but he did and I am really thankful to him for that. Some people treat the cadavers lightly but it really is a special thing and almost a spiritual thing for me. He was a man. An actual living person. I can still see the imprint and tan line from his wedding ring. From what I can tell he was a healthy man too. One that cared about his body and took good care of it. His organs and muscles are beautiful! Seriously the best in our class.
I don't know much about him, but I do know that he was selfless enough to volunteer his body to students so that they could poke and prod it and hopefully learn in the process. I hope he knows how grateful I am to him for his allowing me to do this. I have definitely learned so much and I am positive that it will be the highlight of my educational experience.