Her given name was Virgilla, but everyone knew her as "Bunny." She acquired the nickname because she was born on Easter Sunday, 1959. Bunny and I worked together in a pool of medical transcriptionists at Shannon Hospital. Bunny was the best and fastest transcriptionist I had ever known. She was extremely productive, and she could type so fast that her hands literally flew across the keyboard. She was keenly intelligent and understood the meaning, context and spelling of even the most obscure medical terms. If any of us got stumped by a word, Bunny could figure it out. One of our co-workers referred to her as "Encyclopedicus Bunnicus," because she retained so much knowledge. She had an exceptional work ethic and rarely missed a day of work despite severe pain in her hands. She worked hard to provide all that she could for her mother and son.
Four of the transcriptionists, Bunny and myself included, had birthdays in the last week of March. As a birthday celebration, our supervisor treated us to lunch at Fuentes Diner every year. It wasn't far away, so we'd walk to the diner and back, talking and joking as we went. Bunny had a wonderful sense of humor. Sometimes she'd tell a story and get so tickled she could barely get the words out. We'd be giddy with laughter too, even though we hadn't heard the punchline yet, because her laugh was so infectious.
Bunny was a supportive and generous person. When I resigned from Shannon to start my own business, she presented me with a beautiful leather briefcase. After nearly 30 years, I still use the briefcase daily, and I think of Bunny often. I only just learned of her death, and I felt compelled to share these memories. Bunny was a pleasure to work with, and I will always admire her talent, her wonderful personality, and her integrity. May she rest in peace.
