Norty

A few weeks ago, I had a chance to sit with a dear mentor of mine, Dr. Norty Kalishman.

Norty is one of those people who has done it all – protested injustices, sat on non-profit boards, helped to lead a charitable foundation and lots of things he probably hasn’t told me about. He did all of this while serving his communities as a primary care physician, including a stint where helped lead the New Mexico Department of Health. 

These days, he balances all of the activism with retirement, enjoying life with his wife Summers, gardening, and being an amazing grandparent.

But it was something he asked at the end of the meeting, a seemingly inconsequential question, that caught me off guard.

“Should I send things to your AMSA email?”

I paused in hearing this. Stunned, to be honest.

AMSA stands for the American Medical Student Association, and I was a student leader in AMSA in 2007, trying to address the troubling presence of for-profit interests (e.g. drug companies) in medical education. They even gave me an AMSA email. (Hey, as a medical student, small gifts like this are amazing, as you try to tread water and stay afloat.)

I hadn’t heard those letters in a long time.

That question made me realize how long Norty had been in my life, encouraging and guiding me.

In fact, I recall now that when I came to Albuquerque as an east coast medical student in 2007, a UNM student had given me a few names of community-oriented, radical, activist physicians that I needed to meet.

Norty, meeting all of the above criteria, was on this short list. He had literally helped to welcome me to Burque and this Enchanted Land.

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As life speeds ahead, often at a dizzying pace, it can be a sort of amnesia, making it hard to remember the people who have poured into us over years and decades.

Surely, you have people like Norty in your life. 

Take a few moments this week to reflect on the people who have guided your path. Write one of them a letter, give one of them a call, and if they are no longer walking in this life with us, remember them in a way that is meaningful. Let your Nortys know that you are grateful for them.

Norty, thank you for asking the question, and in doing so, helping me to remember. 

Thank you for guiding me these last two decades. 

Thank you for unconditional love and friendship. 

I hope to be like you when I grow up.

p.s. I will share an editorial he co-authored in March on child well-being. Click here