PART II
10 YEARS LATER
Chapter 1
1
In her essays to colleges and medical schools, Assther explained that her mother’s battle with ovarian cancer sparked her aspiration to become a doctor. Throughout her mother’s struggle with the illness, the doctors, nurses, and other allied health workers had supported the family, decreased her mother’s pain, and gave her dignity and control in her final days.
Assther described how she herself wanted to be a part of a healthcare team that provided comfort, alleviated pain, and improved quality of life. Her photographic memory combined with her exceptional academic performance helped Assther gain admittance to UC Berkeley, her parents’ alma mater, and eventually to UCSF Medical School.
Every happy occasion would be commemorated at Hannah’s gravesite under the boughs of the majestic maple tree. Usually, Assther and her father would bring a picnic basket filled with homemade desserts and champagne. Assther rested her head against the powerful trunk and watch intricately decorated butterflies dart from flower to flower. She’d never shared with her father what the rabbi had told her the day of her mother’s funeral. Assther had been immobilized by grief, and the rabbi had approached her while she was standing near her mother’s coffin. Sensing Assther’s despair, the rabbi had said, “Don’t think of it as being the end. Think of it as a transition to another form, just as a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly.” Every time Assther noticed the insects’ gossamer wings flit in a seemingly random manner, she sensed her mother was nearby.
One summer during medical school, Assther traveled to the Zamora region in rural Mexico and volunteered with a mobile clinic, which visited elderly, pregnant, and incapacitated patients. While working at the clinic, Assther met Ezmy, a fellow volunteer from the University of Oregon; they became fast friends, bonding over the mutual loss of a parent at a young age. Ezmy, who was biracial, wore her hair in a natural afro, and her lithe frame and soft gait
