I've been a fan of Emergency! since, well, forever. Looking back, I didn't so much have a crush on John Gage as I wanted to be John Gage: saving lives, working with a close-knit crew, having Roy as a best friend, not to mention getting to work in a medical setting. Like so many others, the show seems to have had a huge impact on my life. I have been a respiratory therapist for ages, spent a few years on a helicopter transport team, and my best friend/husband is a fireman/paramedic. Firemen, while certainly human, (perhaps in part because they are only human) seem to epitomize my notions of what a true hero is.

As always, Enfleurage deserves a medal for carving out chunks of her busy life to offer her Beta-finessing-talents. She holds true to the very standards which drew me to her in the first place, yet manages to do it with kindness and humor. Her medal would be engraved with the words "Beta and Beyond", and it would be shiny.

A word of explanation about the series Anagrams Runs Through It All

The title of the series anagrams out to Shall Hunt a Roaming Rug Rat, so each chapter somehow involves a missing or wandering child. Each chapter's title is another anagram of the name of one of the crew members, for example, Chapter 1 uses an anagram of "Michael Stoker" (Hero Calms Tike).

Now, for some optional fun. Most of the children in these stories have names that anagram out to some story-related phrase. You may have to piece the name together, for instance Chapter One's 'rug rat' is Foster Wing. If you are having trouble solving one of these, it will help to consider what the story reveals about the child, or something that happened to the child. For the purposes of this game, a "rug rat" is any child twelve years of age and under. If a child's name is mentioned somewhere in a story, then it has been anagramed. There are anagram-solving sites available on the internet if you choose to use them.

It's important to know that you don't need the solutions to these kid-name-anagrams to follow the stories. They are just added fun for folks who enjoy puzzles.

The Anagram Kids: in order of appearance with anagram solutions printed (backwards)

Foster Wing (sregnif owt)

Parker N. Tellyson (retsknarp ylenol) * Garrett Fauni (tegrat riafnu)

Trisha M Settinger(eramthgin s'rettis a) * Angel Hushons (lruh annog s'ehs) * Tate H. Erbright (rehtaerb thgit)

Daphne Ore (erad enohp) * Shaddie Ore (deroda si eh) * Byron R. Ore (orb yrenro) * Dick Heskins (snihs dekcik) * Tammie Sue Hanie (eitnua ym htiw m'I)

Damon Dudley (dal yddum eno) * Tilde Shay Chefler (flesreh dlihc a tey) * Mistletoe Danton (eman ot s'edliT ton)

Noel Raith (traeh noil) * Amethyst Truegale (rewehc mug yhtlaets) * Wren Read (rerednaw) * Heidi Markens (nediam keirhs) * Spotmop Roer (repoop mrots)

Looking back over these anagram tales I am amazed at the journey. It started with my discovery of anagrams, (something I had never messed around with until John Gage and Chet Kelly started poking at each other during some down-time at the station.) It ended with my final choice of the title for Marco's anagram tale. (Actually, that's a lie. Enfleuage just caught a spelling error while beta'ing Ooze Pain, sending a grateful anagramer back to the drawing board in search of a pair of replacements. 'Told you she deserved a medal.)

In between were some delightful discoveries, some things I'd forgotten, IE: the difference between slope angle and slope percent, some things I never would have thought to research if not for these tales. The history of the Palos Verdes Peninsula while searching for a suitable "road that the county built" comes to mind. I've haunted the LACoFD website and stalked the streets of Carson. I don't believe I will ever be able to view a certain piece of artwork by Sir John Tenniel without a fond smile. I now know where Route 66 is. Never a jazz fan before, I suddenly can, and do sing three or four of Bobby Troup's songs. Like Hank, I had the croonings of David Cassidy and Bobby Sherman stuck in my head for days. I've learned some pretty cool things to say in Spanish. I know more about child abductions in the 70's and 80's than I care to. I know more about the job my husband has quietly dedicated a career to. I know a little bit more about wrestling with words to make them reflect what I am trying to impart; maybe I know a little more about myself.