"Mommy, you know doctors and firemen - what's the big word for those?" Cal asked me from the floor of the doctor's office this morning. He had just finished his annual appointment and was getting dressed before the nurses came in to tag team him and give him four booster shots.
"I'm not sure, Baby Bear... paramedics?" I guessed.
"No, not that," he told me. "What do you call, like, the firemen, police officers, doctors, nurses?"
"Professionals?" I tried.
"No," he rejected my guess immediately.
"I really don't know," I conceded.
"Yes you do," he insisted.
"I don't. I don't think there is such a word." I was bailing. "Did someone tell you there was?"
"Yes, Mrs. Dunham," he said.
"Well, I don't know what it would be," I said with my eyebrow up and lips pursed to the side. I was clearly questioning the existence of this magical word that accurately describes this mixture of professionals, other than the word "professionals" itself.
"Well, you should know because you're 44 and she's not," he informed me.
I don't know how old Mrs. Dunham is, but she is certainly younger than I am. Cal thinks that the older you are, the more you know. I like for Cal to think I know a lot, but not for that reason. I AM older than a lot of people we both know, other than his grandparents. I should have told him that Mrs. Dunham is a teacher, so teachers should really know everything. But that would have put Mrs. Dunham in a bind.
Anyway, there may be a word, something that speaks to the service these professionals provide to people, helping them, healing them, keeping them safe. I'll have to ask Mrs. Dunham what that word is.
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