A Passionate Life.... By Anne Lenehan /Page 4
New York was a cultural minefield for Story. Newly married and with three children to be born
in the next few years while he attended the College of Physicians and Surgeons, he and his family
enjoyed the richness of the world to which they had become a part. Living on the sparest of
incomes, they would make visits to local museums and art galleries and also enjoyed the atmosphere
of places like Times Square, watching the world go by. Sharing a tiny one bedroom apartment,
this period is still recalled with great fondness, assisted by the generosity of family and
of neighbours in the local community.
According to Story: "It's just a huge place any way you want to look at it, but we did
not in any way find it overwhelming; we just found it fantastic. It was entertaining; it was
wonderful all the way around. That experience was just very, very rich."
After four years in New York, Story sought a new place to begin his medical internship. He applied
to several colleges, but it was the University of Kentucky and its staff which really impressed
him. He was captivated by the Head of Surgery, Dr Ben Eiseman, who, like Story, was full of
energy and fascinated with the world. The college, in turn, was captivated by Story and his
achievements. But perhaps it was Story's love of the surrounding farms in Lexington - the neat
and aesthetically pleasing horse farms, the charming houses and the wonderfully green fields
that decided the matter. He said later that moving to Lexington was "like coming home."
He has often quoted Lexington as his home town - a love which continued to grow over the next
few years as he once again settled down with his young family, which would soon grow to seven.
They moved into a large house with plenty of space for the family and lots of backyard for the
children to run around.
The year which followed the move to Lexington was one of extremes for Story. The almost unrelenting
hours at the university hospital were mingled with the arrival of his brother Tom to live with
them and Tom’s struggles to deal with the challenges of his own life. Tom was not so fortunate
and not so able to cope with what life had dealt him and, before the year was out, he had moved
to his own accommodation and shortly thereafter committed suicide. It was a huge blow to Story.
He had always been close to Tom and now that last link with his childhood had gone.
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