In preparation for today's first lab of the lower limb, I felt nothing. It may be that after the grit and awe of handling his heart and lungs, the viscera of his abdomen, and his urogenital organs, my cadaver's anterior thigh was not very inspiring. I think I felt that there were no more secrets left to move me. I was wrong. It was the most profound day yet.

After seeing the prosection, I knew what I wanted to work on. I felt a powerful need to dissect out his right greater saphenous vein. I took my time and slowly cleaned it of all of its attachments to the surrounding tissue. I felt obliged to dissect it out beautifully, in homage to my cadaver, Stanley. The task was soothing. When I was through, it glistened perfectly, a milky-blue from the upper thigh all the way down to the medial knee. I backed away from the table and started to tremble. I thought of my father who is still alive after two cardiac bypass surgeries. His own saphenous veins from both legs are miraculously part of his damaged heart's circulation. They are his vessels of life and are the reason he saw me graduate from high school, from college, get married and have two children.

Today, I became aware of how close I was to losing my father and how miraculous it is that he is still alive. For this, in addition to all that I've had the great privilege to learn, I am most grateful to Stanley.

—Michael