A stay in the hospital probably wouldn't make it onto most people's list of "fun things to do."

I'm not saying it would make the top ten on my list, now, but as a kid, it probably topped the list of "Things that could be worse."

From the time I was born, up until about age 9, I spent a lot of time in the doctor's office and the hospital.

My earliest memory of being in the hospital was at about age 3, when I was about to undergo major surgery. My grandmother told me more than 25 years later that shortly before the surgery, I had told her not to worry, because I wasn't going to die.

Although my mother told me, much later, that the doctors had given me a 50-50 chance of surviving the surgery, I don't remember worrying about dying or being scared of surgery. What I remembered was the new coloring book and colors I got for "being sick."

I had never seen a coloring book like it. Unlike most coloring books, this one had a cover that was a cut-out of a squirrel. Its tail curved up, forming a handle.

My first ride in an elevator also took place during that hospital visit. The doors almost closed on the wheelchair I was sitting in — another first — and I was startled when my Aunt Mary suddenly stepped between the doors and they suddenly sprang back. I had thought she'd be crushed.

The surgery, while successful, didn't put a stop to my medical problems. It would be years before a specialist in Dallas finally figured out why I kept getting sick. Until then, I could count on spending some time in the hospital at least once a year, sometimes twice.

It's not that I was a great fan of being hospitalized, but with the exception of having your blood sampled, etc., being waited on hand and foot wasn't that bad.

Besides, I had gotten over the fear of needles thing long ago. Spending a lot of time in doctors' offices, it isn't long before you get pretty disgusted with the way kids scream and cry and throw a fit over every little thing. Or at least, I did. Not wanting to be associated with a big bunch of babies, I decided that not only was I not going to cry, I wasn't going to flinch. And I didn't.

There were all kinds of things at the hospital that you never got at home — meals on trays, jelly in little foil-topped packages and drinking straws made of glass.

I wondered then, and still do, how those straws were washed. How could they wash hundreds of glass drinking straws a day without breaking them? I couldn't imagine that a dishwasher could successfully clean the inside of a glass drinking straw. As a kid, I didn't know much about the cost of anything, except maybe candy and popsicles, but even so, I had an idea that paper straws, even if you had to buy them every day, had to be cheaper in the long run than washing and replacing glass straws. But who knows.

Never but in the hospital did I ever have apple or grape juice or apple jelly. At home, it was always orange juice and homemade jelly or preserves. I didn't especially like the taste of apple juice or jelly, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that it was different.

My first visit to a cafeteria took place in the hospital as well. The walls of the cafeteria at Henderson Memorial Hospital were encircled with framed pictures of dancing fruits and vegetables. I found them fascinating.

I found it fascinating, too, that some 30 years later, that the pictures were still there. The walls of the cafeteria were new, so it appeared the fruits and vegetables had survived the hospital's expansion. I guess I wasn't the only one who found them fascinating.

And of course, there were the visits and gifts of coloring books and colors, gum and candy and "get well soon" cards that usually came with a dollar bill tucked inside.

So like I said, once you get past the dread of medical procedures, the hospital wasn't such a bad place to hang out. Or at least, it didn't used to be.

These days, insurance companies don't encourage people to waste time getting well in a hospital. The last time I had cause to visit the hospital for surgery, they had me up and out of there in a matter of hours, which was fine with me. I already knew I wasn't going to get a coloring book.

Lime Jello Salad

2 c. cottage cheese

1 can chopped pineapple, drained

2 c. whipped cream

1 large package lime Jello brand gelatin

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate.

Karla DeLuca is editor and publisher of The Daily Sentinel.