#22 Get CPR Recertified

As a teacher and a devoted Auntie, it’s important that I know CPR. When my cousin Jeni told me about her list of 30 Things, getting CPR certified was on it. She was a new Aunt and wanted to be prepared as well. We thought it would be more fun if we took the class together, so I added it to my list.

Being my cousin, Jeni and I have done things together all our lives. We’re only 4 months apart, and grew up in the same town, so we went to school together for 13 years. We spent Saturdays roaming around our family’s ranch letting our imaginations run wild. In high school, we were warm up partners in volleyball, partners on class projects, and we both played the flute in band. We visited each other in college and spent three weeks traveling through Europe together.

                              Jeni and I working on something
                          in Accounting Class (Circa 1998-99)



When I refer to Jeni in conversations or introduce her to people, I usually end up having qualify our relationship. “This is my cousin, Jeni….but she’s my friend, too”. I don’t feel like introducing her as my cousin does our relationship justice. It‘s not because our dads are brothers that we choose to be in each other‘s lives…we’re friends. But then simply calling her my friend doesn’t seem sufficient either. Being bonded to each other by genetics and sharing family is significant. We both got our grandma’s bunyons…who else can relate to that but your cousin?

It gets rather tiresome going through this friend-cousin rigamarole everytime I refer to Jeni in a conversation. In a society that has added words like “tanorexia” and “sexting” to the dictionary, one would think we could invent a word that combines “cousin” and “friend”.

“Cousend”, perhaps?

My cousend and I make a fierce team when it comes to academic pursuits. We were lab partners in science class. We’ve dissected an earthworm, a frog, a fetal pig, and even a cat (yep...two in fact, but that‘s another story entirely). Two of our best friends, who we shared a lab table with, after witnessing our scientific prowess, compared us to two world renowned scientists…

                             Our Muppet Counterparts

Beaker (Jeni) and Professor Bunsen Honeydew (Me).  Yes, you would know them from The Muppets. So, obviously, CPR class promised to be much more fun if we did it together.

Jeni researched and found a class that she thought might have the highest attendance of eligible young firemen and paramedics (although this wouldn‘t end up panning out). We met in the conference room of an office building on a Saturday morning. It was fun to be in a class with her again! Most of the people that attended the class were in, or on the fringes of, the medical profession in some capacity and needed the certification for employment. Jeni and I? We were the concerned Aunts.

We were actually dubbed, “The Gigglers” by our instructor. We couldn’t help it. The videos they used to demonstrate resuscitation techniques warranted giggling. Lots of giggling. As did our simulations of emergencies using our CPR Dummies.   To prepare for a possible emergency, we were instructed to shake our dummy and say, “Hey? Hey? Are you okay?” If we didn’t get an answer (and we didn‘t), then we were to turn to our partner and say, “Hey you, call 911 and get an AED!” and then commence CPR. Try doing this with Beaker from the Muppets as your partner…if you didn't giggle too, you're made of stone!

Despite the giggles, we both passed with flying colors (although Beaker scored higher than the Professor) and are now CPR certified. 

                                   Eating crepes after CPR class!