A Life of Service and Quiet Strength: Carmen Vazquez Rivera

A Life of Service and Quiet Strength: Carmen Vazquez Rivera

I have been learning about some of the people who served in the wars, and this time I wanted to let you know the story of Carmen Vazquez Rivera.

She was born on the 15th of February 1922 in Cidra, Puerto Rico, and she was  the eldest of six children. At just sixteen, she began training to become a nurse, studying in Bayamón and then later in San Juan, where she took on roles in operating rooms and maternity work.

When the United States joined World War II, Puerto Rican nurses were not initially accepted. But that changed in 1944, and she joined the U.S. Army that December. She quickly took on the role of head nurse and helped to deliver over a hundred babies. After the war, she was honoured for her service and met President Truman.

In 1953, during the Korean War, she returned to military service, this time with the U.S. Air Force as a First Lieutenant.

She also had some fun moments in her life, she once won a military beauty pageant and briefly danced with Elvis Presley.

She retired in 1973, and continued to work as a nurse and volunteered. She lived a to the remarkable age of 103 before she passed away on the 8th of March 2025.

 

Do you think lives like hers receive the recognition they deserve, or do they  fade behind larger events?

From Frontier Beginnings to a Final Sacrifice on Titanic

From Frontier Beginnings to a Final Sacrifice on Titanic

I have been learning about some of the people who were on board the Titanic and I found the story of Frank M. Warren Sr.

He was born on the 10th of May 1848 in Maine, but he did move west. As a young child, he went with his family to the Oregon Territory.

By his teenage years, he was already working, first with companies like Wells Fargo and then later in banking. In 1869, he founded his own salmon canning business along the Columbia River. It made him a wealthy and respected man. 

In 1872, he married Anna Sophia Atkinson, and together they had four children. Their lives seemed settled, he was involved in the church and with education. 

By 1912, after decades of work, he and his wife went on a trip to Europe, to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. On the night of the 14th of April, everything changed.

When the Titanic hit the iceberg, Warren made sure that Anna made it safely to a lifeboat.

He sadly did not survive, and his body was never identified.

Thoth: The Keeper of Wisdom, Time, and Divine Balance

Thoth: The Keeper of Wisdom, Time, and Divine Balance

I have been learning a little about some of the many Egyptian gods, and this time I want to tell you about  Thoth.

In the earliest beliefs of ancient Egypt in around 3000BC, Thoth appears to have been closely connected to the moon. The sun god Ra ruled the day, Thoth was often associated with the calm light of the night. It is believed that he helped to maintain the balance in the universe, by marking the passage of time and making sure that order, rather than chaos, prevailed.

As Egyptian religion started to evolve, Thoth started to become known as the god of wisdom, writing, and of knowledge. The Egyptians believed he was the inventor of hieroglyphs, the sacred writing system that allowed their stories, laws, and beliefs to be recorded.

Scribes, in particular, regarded him highly, they saw their work not just as a skill, but almost as a calling that was shaped by him.

Thoth’s role grew even more significant in the stories of the afterlife. During the weighing of the heart, when the fate of the soul was decided, he was said to have stood beside the scales to record the outcome. Anubis guided the process and Osiris judged, but it was Thoth that ensured that everything was done correctly and honestly.

He also appears in the great myth of Osiris. After Osiris was killed by Set, it was Thoth who helped Isis with his knowledge and magic, playing a part in restoring Osiris long enough for Horus to be conceived. He was not just an observer, he was  someone who actually shaped events.

The Greeks would later connect Thoth with Hermes, they saw their similarities as messengers and as keepers of knowledge. But Thoth retained something that was distinctly Egyptian, a sense of  intelligence, patience, and balance.

 

Breaking Barriers Before Change: Mary L. Petty’s Quiet WWII Leadership

Breaking Barriers Before Change: Mary L. Petty’s Quiet WWII Leadership

I have been learning about some of the people who served during the Second World War, and Mary L. Petty is someone whose story really stayed with me.

She was born on the 4th of January 1916 in Seattle, but grew up in Chicago, where she completed her education before training as a nurse. In 1940, she graduated from the Freedmen’s Hospital School of Nursing, stepping into a profession that was already challenging, but even more so for Black women at that time.

After working in hospitals in Virginia and New York, she joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps in 1941. This was a time when opportunities for African American nurses were extremely limited, even in despite of the growing need for medical staff during the war. She went on to serve at Fort Bragg and later at Tuskegee. All while navigating a system shaped by segregation.

She became the first African American nurse in the corps to reach the rank of captain. That same year, she was placed in charge of training Black nurses at Fort Huachuca in Arizona, helping prepare others to serve in a system that had long excluded them.

In 1945, she led the first group of African American nurses sent to Europe. It is difficult not to think about what that moment must have felt like, stepping into a role that had been denied to so many before her, carrying both responsibility and quiet defiance.

Her achievements came before wider changes, such as Harry S. Truman’s Executive Order 9981 in 1948, which formally ended segregation in the armed forces. In many ways, she was already proving what policy had yet to recognise.

She lived a long life, passing away in 2001, but her legacy feels larger than dates.

Do you think change is driven more by policy, or by individuals who challenge the system before it changes?

A Life of Duty and Sacrifice: John Thayer on Titanic

A Life of Duty and Sacrifice: John Thayer on Titanic

I have been learning about some of the people who were on board the Titanic, I want to tell you a liyyle about John Borland Thayer II.

He was born on the 21^st of April 1862 in Philadelphia, into a well-established family. At the University of Pennsylvania, he was a good athlete, captaining the baseball team and playing cricket.

After university, he entered the Pennsylvania Railroad, starting as a clerk. Over the years, he rose through the ranks. By 1911, he had become second vice-president, helping manage one of the busiest rail networks in the United States.

In 1892, he married Marian Morris, and together they had four children. By 1912, the family had spent some time travelling in Europe. They boarded Titanic at Cherbourg, to start the  journey home.

On the night of the 14^th of April, everything changed for so many, including for Thayer and his family. When the Titanic hit the iceberg, he made sure his wife was safely in a lifeboat. His teenage son, Jack managed to survive by leaping into the freezing water. Thayer himself chose not to board a boat.

His body was sadly never recovered, and for a short time there was some confusion, with reports believing he had survived.

Do you think, in those final moments, duty to others mattered more than survival?

Set: The Egyptian God Who Balanced Chaos and Order

Set: The Egyptian God Who Balanced Chaos and Order

Yesterday we spoke about Horus, and that led me to look more closely at his rival, Set. I found a far more complex villain than I expected. Set was associated with the desert, storms, and chaos. Most mythologies have a God connected to chaos. The Norse had Loki although he was more of a trickster.

To the ancient Egyptians, these were not only negative forces. The desert could destroy, but it also defined the edges of their world. Storms could bring anxiety and danger, but they were still part of the natural balance.

In the story, he is the brother of Osiris. He was jealous and ambitious and this is what made him kill Osiris and take the power for himself. Did he believe he was stronger, more capable, or even more deserving? Or was it simply a fear of being overshadowed?

When Horus, Osiris son grew up, he challenged Set. But he did not give way. Their battles were said to have lasted for many years. Some suggesting eighty years. Set was not weak nor was he easily defeated. He fought fiercely.

Set was not entirely rejected by the Egyptians. In some traditions, he even protected the sun god Ra during its nightly journey. That changes everything. It suggests that even chaos itself had a role, that even destructive forces were part of keeping the world in order.

Set may not have been loved in the same way as Horus, but he was not meaningless either.

Do you think figures like Set were meant to represent the darker parts of human nature, or something far more necessary?

Image info:

Horus, Uniter of the Two Lands and Set tying upper and lower Egypt together

The Nurse Who Transformed Care Through Human Connection and Understanding

The Nurse Who Transformed Care Through Human Connection and Understanding

I have been learning about some of the people who served during the wars and today I wanted to look at Hildegard Peplau.

She was born on the 1st of September 1909 in Reading, Pennsylvania, into a large family. As a child, she seemed to notice things others might overlook, especially how people behaved and reacted to stress. During the flu epidemic of 1918 she witnessed the fear, illness, and even delirium, this gave her a deeper understanding of how illness could affect the mind as well as the body. She also noticed that it also affected the family.

At a time when women’s choices were limited, she saw nursing as a way forward. She trained at Pottstown Hospital School of Nursing, qualifying in 1931, and began working in both Pennsylvania and New York. While others may have accepted the system as it was, she questioned it.

She started studying at Bennington College and earned a degree in interpersonal psychology in 1943. She explored human behaviour, influenced by leading thinkers of the time.

During the Second World War, she served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, stationed in England. Working alongside specialists in military psychiatry, she was saw the psychological impact of war.

After the war, she continued her education at Columbia University and became a leading voice in psychiatric nursing. In the late 1940s, she completed her groundbreaking work, Interpersonal Relations in Nursing. It challenged the idea of patients as passive recipients of care. Instead, she believed the relationship between nurse and patient should be built on trust with communication, and mutual understanding. At the time, this was a some what controversial idea.

Through her teaching at Rutgers University and her work with organisations like the World Health Organization, she helped reshape nursing education and practice. She encouraged nurses to think, question, and engage with those they cared for.

She spent much of her life dedicated to her work and to raising her daughter, She was independent and committed. She passed away on the 17th of March 1999 at the age of 89.

What do you think matters more in care, skill or connection?