Janet Lawrence
OMRF Employee 1952 - 2005

Interview by Shari Hawkins

I watched them build this building. "Lord," I said, "send me somewhere that I can keep my temper." And He sent me here.
- My first day of work at OMRF was September 16, 1952, in the research hospital. I brought the patients their meals from University Hospital on a cart through the tunnel under 13th Street.
- Everybody here has been real nice. It really is like a big family. People care about you and know what is going on in your life. It feels just like home here. Sometimes better.
- I remember when Jordan Tang [now an acclaimed Alzheimer's researcher] came here in 1959. He looked like a school boy. I liked to tease him. Getting his Ph.D. didn't change him. He was always friendly to everyone.
- OMRF was segregated in the '50s. It was a reflection of the times. The black employees weren't allowed to participate in parties. We had to eat at a different time than the white employees in the cafeteria. That gradually changed, but I still remember it well.
- General flunky—that's what I called myself. I can roll with the punches. But as long as it's honest, I don't mind the work.
- We always had a Christmas tree in the clinic for the patients and staff, and every year I'd crawl under that tree and peek at my gift. One year while I was under there, the tree fell on me. I was yelling, "Help me, help me!" and everybody came running. So, I got found out!
- My parents had seven sons, followed by seven daughters. I was born in 1917 on our farm outside Stroud, the baby of the family - the number 14 child. Mama called me "the last button on Gabriel's coat." I'm the last one still living.
- Meat, potatoes and bread. That's what I eat. I won't eat anything green. Not rice or pasta, either. I used to cook a lot, but no more. I don't mind cooking for sick people, but I won't cook for well people. At least not any more.
- We had about 20 employees when I came to work here - and they all wanted to be in charge!
- A lot of things have changed. It was sad when they tore down the chapel. I begged Dr. [Reagan] Bradford not to close the hospital, but we got over that. I'm glad to see OMRF growing now.
- My first paycheck was for $125. I thought I was rich! I had never been paid more than $90 a month before that. It would go a long way in those days.
- In 1982 I retired, but I came right back. I had worked since I was 15, and I couldn't just stay home. I was lonesome.
- Mama taught me not to sit and rust but instead to work and wear out. If you do that, God will be good to you.
- My favorite memory would be my patients. I loved them. I cried when they closed the hospital like it was mine.
- In the clinic they always told me, "Do anything you want to do, because you're going to do it anyway."
- I've been satisfied with everything I've done. I wouldn't undo or redo anything.
- You could say I've had my share of health problems through the years. I had cancer twice, a heart attack, a stroke, got a pacemaker, had arthritis and lost my parents, my siblings, two of my children and several coworkers. But none of it has gotten me down.
- Worry never solved a problem, never cooked a meal, never made a dollar. God will fight your battles for you if you'll just be still and let Him. I believe that.

Ms. Lawrence retired - this time for good - in February.