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30 The Story of Terrel and Juliette Dressel

obstetrics, orthopedics, psychology, surgery, or medicine. While
studying a certain specialty, I worked in that area at the hospital.
I got paid one dollar per hour to work as a student nurse in
the student-staffed hospital. In addition, I received a $300 schol-

arship from the Iberia Medical Auxiliary, which paid for three
years of schooling and housing.
Brownie and I became close with four other girls: Beth, Jackie,

Joan, and Gigi. We would frequently walk to Bourbon Street to
eat pizza at Tony’s Pizza and not return to the nursing school un-
til around one a.m. On Mondays, we would tell the house mother
we needed to go mail a letter, but instead we would go to Mor-
rison’s Cafeteria for red beans and sausage. We would watch TV

and socialize with the other nursing students in the sixth-floor
lounge, go to dances every Friday night with sailors, pilots, and
medical students, and occasionally spend weekends enjoying the

beach at my Aunt Eleanor and Uncle Virgil’s house in Pass Chris-
tian, Mississippi. During my first year in New Orleans, I returned
home during Mardi Gras. After that, I stayed in the city to watch
the parades and have a good time with my friends.
I graduated and became a Registered Nurse in August of

1960, accepted a job at Ochsner’s, and rented an apartment with
Beth and Jackie. One weekend, I came home for a visit, took my
little brother to the bowling alley, and ran into Terrel.

Terrel: When I saw Juliette at the bowling alley, we got to
talking, and I asked her for a date. The next night, we saw a movie
on a double date with our friends, Gail and Loto, and had our
first kiss in the backseat of Loto’s car. The next night, we went

out dancing before she returned to New Orleans.