Wishes
Did you ever make a wish?
Was it wise or foolish?
Did it come true or didn’t it?
Was it for a doll or for a baseball mitt?
A trip to the circus or a bright table, or anything that was able.
A foolish wish is for a lot of money, a trip to Mars for a thousand jars of honey.
A wise wish is for a house, a child, or to get rid of every mouse.
But there is one wish better than the rest and that is for happiness.
That poem was written by one of our Radiology faculty, Dr. Alan Oestreich, when he was only 10 years old. Sadly, we lost Dr. Oestreich last summer at the age of 84. He was a very private person, and there were a lot of things even his close colleagues at work didn’t know about him.
In November of this year, our department celebrated his life by holding an event at Cincinnati Children’s research auditorium. His loving wife Tamar gave a presentation of his life, from his parents leaving Europe before the start of WWII to his younger years to finally arriving at Cincinnati Children’s for the rest of his career. Radiologist-in-Chief Dr. Brian Coley topped it off with Dr. O’s career at the hospital.
You can view the celebration of his life by watching the recording of the event, by clicking on the link below. I promise you will learn a lot about him. For example, as a young man, he loved to dance, especially loving folk dances of Romanian Hungarian, Greek, and Israeli. He attended regular classes, beginning ballet classes, and jazzercise.
My fond memories of Dr. Oestreich were helping him with his medical images for his many research publications. In the beginning, it was preparing 5-by-7-inch X-ray photographic hard copies, with arrows and text that I would add to the image digitally and then print out. As technology advanced, we would upload digital copies to the publisher. I’m going to miss the times we would sit next to each other as he instructed me where to place the arrow or text on the image, which part to crop, or which area to enhance for better viewing.
This will be the first year I will not be receiving his custom-made holiday cards, made by his wife. Each was a work of art, depicting him and his wife’s devotion to each other. Whenever you hear the saying, “You are a scholar and a gentleman,” Dr. Oestreich would be a perfect example. He was modest, gentle, had an unpredictable sense of humor, was proud of his son, and was a faithful husband to his wife Tamar.
Glenn Miñano is a media specialist in the Department of Radiology, providing graphic design, photography, printing, video services, and administration of the department’s online properties. His works have been published in several medical articles, such as the American Journal of Radiology and the American Institute of Ultrasound. He has been providing these services to the Radiology Department since 1996.
Meredith Towbin is a freelance copy editor and writer. She has copyedited the Department of Radiology’s blog since it launched. She also works as a copy editor for the home improvement website BobVila.com. Her writing has been featured on HuffPost as well as other writing sites.
