My mom, a nurse, was having an insane evening in the emergency room. First, a woman who had delivered her baby in a car was rushed in. Next was a man carrying a lifeless body yelling, "Help me!" In the middle of all this, a patient escaped from the psychiatric ward, tore off her clothes, and went running through the halls naked.

During a lull, Mom called home. "You wouldn't believe the night I'm having," she said to my dad.

"Can't talk now," he interrupted. "I'm watching ER."