Envision

Thursday night, I just finished an awful interview with the spouse of the man I am about to interview. The smell of dinner I ate with them still lingers while the soft volume of Thursday Night Football plays in the background. I end up interviewing two people in one night, taking up all of my time I thought I was going to use studying. I end up interviewing my Dad who I hope you get to know a little bit about while you read.

Born from an Irish and Russian background and growing up in Bridgeview, Illinois, Kenneth Maher, a second-generation American whose loved by his mother and father has been deeply impacted by his family and work. A housewife for the majority of her life, Kenneth's mother greatly influenced how he acts, and what he has accomplished today. Her teachings to everyone she met shows her influence on Kenneth's upbringing. Her parents lost everything during WW2, and decided to move to America to live the America in pursuit of the American Dream. Without her knowledge as a woman and a mother, Ken's life would have been ten times as hard as it is today. Unfortunately, Mary Maher passed away in 2016. His only brother and best friend, Jim played a major role in his life without him knowing about it. They are quite opposite but grew up respecting each other. His father's a retired police officer that worked for the city of Chicago for forty years.

Kenneth Maher’s birth at St. Mary's Hospital on March 26th, 1969 started his journey through life. After middle school, Ken attended school at St. Laurence High School because his parents did not allow him to attend a public high school. At this point, public schools started busing in students from different locations, which led to lower scores. Ken’s parents were afraid that his scores would also be lowered if he went to a public school, so the private school was his only option. While attending St. Laurence, Ken met his lifelong friends who would stand up at his wedding. Instead of focusing on school, Ken focused on his best friends and their band, which has many iterations on bassetts, drummers, and guitarists. His best friend's Rick and Frank created the band with him where he was the lead singer. He loved to go to heavy metal concerts at the Aragon Ballroom and only started caring about his education when he studied for the ACT in his junior year. Ken only tried to “get by” (Maher) as he says it, in school. Never putting in extra effort or time that could have been spent with friends. Once he found out about his brother's abnormally high ACT score, a fire ignited under him to achieve a higher score. Brother Ford, an English and composition teacher, taught ACT for students after school. Br. Ford always told Ken he would not beat his brother’s score. In actuality, Br. Ford motivated Ken to beat his brother's score because he was the first teacher that gave him confidence. Unforntally, Ken only received a 26 on the ACT, one less than his older brother.

After graduating high school, Ken decided to go to the University of Illinois at Chicago, also known as circle campus. Ken found out how immature he acted, failing all of his classes because parties interested him more than studying and going to class. He was “lost in that sea of students” as he put it. In time Ken found out he needed to go to a community college instead to be in an environment more similar to high school. Without his failures as a young adult, Ken would not have been able to mature for the future. “Why go anywhere else?” Ken responded during my interview. He found that community colleges are a great resource for studies and a great learning experience as a young adult. Ken added that community college helped him mature slower than being in a hostile environment like a four-year university. After two years at Richard J. Daley College, Ken decided to become a nurse. To finish out his degree in nursing, Ken decided to go to Saint Xavier University in Chicago, Illinois.

This is where Ken was met with scrutiny from female teachers but also the location where he met the love of his life. Ken decided to go into nursing because of his Uncle Walter, a veteran and first-generation American who I have personally interviewed before. He said that nursing would be great for him and that he would always have a job. In 1987, the female teachers questioned Ken's decision to become a nurse. They thought that a female-dominated field should not have males like Ken in their class. This blatant sexism did not affect Ken and also helped him find the women of his dreams while studying at St. Xavier. Ken knew that in a female-dominated field he would find himself a wife eventually. Ken thought this into reality. A particular belief Ken lives by is “You can visualize what you want to happen, if you keep thinking about something happening it might give you more confidence'' Ken said in my interview. Once he knew that Robyn was the one he quickly turned that thought into reality. One on a full ride for volleyball and the other being a metal-head that grew his hair out, and religiously wore a black leather jacket, they were quite the opposites, to say the least. With his visualization to have what he wanted in life, Ken quickly become a nurse and get married. Shortly after, Ken and his wife Roberta had their first child, also named Ken. Coincidentally, Ken wanted to have two boys and later in life, this wish became reality when I was born in 2001.

As a nurse, Ken worked for a few years after college as an entry level nurse and was able to find employment under his Uncle Walter, who was the director of acute services at Oak Forest Hospital. Oak Forest Hospital is an old facility where Ken met mentors that helped him become the nurse he is today. These nurses helped Ken to advance quickly, allowing Ken to become one of his Uncle's supervisors in acute services. He learned to never rush to get to a problem. This problem-solving technique has helped his employees learn critical thinking skills which he always wanted to help. From 1998 to 2007 Ken worked at Oak Forest until the state laid off Ken and other employees of the hospital because of cost-cutting of the state and the hospital's use slowly declined. At this time in his life, Ken and his brother stopped talking. One of his comments to his brother's wife was misinterpreted, where he asked his brother’s wife if she was going back to work soon after seeing her schedule on their calendar, only three months after her miscarriage. This event caused the brothers to never be close anymore. His brother's wife had a miscarriage nine months into the pregnancy and Ken's name was used on the death certificate. I indicate this information to show how close they were before the events took place. Ken supported his brother as they brought the fetus to rest in the cold January cemetery. His comment shook the family, Ken’s brother stopped talking with most of the Maher family. This has caused a break in Ken’s family that was never seen before and too this day is not fixed. Without this event taking place the Maher brothers would have stayed best friends forever.

“I have a complete barrier from work and home life” (Maher). Ken introduced the difference he has for his feelings about work and home. At work, Ken has seen countless patients pass away and he stays unaffected by his surroundings. At work, Ken shows the patients that he truly cares for them to make them feel better, which hopefully has a positive impact. Ken acts perfect for his patients and their families. Many times he has been told he does too much for his patients by his superiors. Ken feels that patients need someone to care for them, or else they won't feel safe. Ken says “we create the bad patients”. A patient that does not feel safe around the staff acts out if a nurse does not act sympathetically towards them. Even if the patient is the one hurting themselves, Ken gives them 100% of his time to help them. Ken thinks all patients deserve care, even if you don't condone what they do. When he is not at work he shows a different side to his family and friends. A funny father that still loves listening to music and playing games. Ken also plays fantasy football religiously and is the manager on a volleyball team with his wife, every wednesday during the summer and fall seasons he is out at the courts. In the present day, Ken tries to find something different, where he can deal with patients without the worry of a boss. One day he hopes to be able to retire from nursing.

Works Cited

Maher, Timothy. “Major Assignment 2: Our Heroes, Our Villains.” SoundCloud, 30 Nov 2019, soundcloud.com/timothy-maher-2220795/major-assignment-2-our-heroes-our-villains