Last Dance, Last Chance

school was that the courses there were all taught in Spanish. Anthony was quite willing to learn the language, and he mastered it quickly. From 1983 to 1985, he attended the Universidad Central del Caribe in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. There, students could enter with an MCAT score of 6.7. The tuition was almost as steep as it was at Harvard, but del Caribe accepted over fifteen percent of those who applied. Anthony didn’t have to worry about the tuition; Dr. Ralph Pignataro was willing to pay it. Even though it was taking so long, the realization of his dream of having his son practicing with him meant so much to him.
    Dr. Ralph Pignataro gladly paid $24,000 a year tuition and all of Anthony’s living expenses in Puerto Rico. Whether his medical training was as thorough or as current with medical care advances as taught by medical schools in the continental United States was a question. Top-ranked American medical schools had 3.8 instructors for every student; del Caribe had only 0.4 instructors for each student.
    Still, Anthony Pignataro was very intelligent, more so than his undergraduate grades indicated. When he set out to do something, his brain fairly sizzled. He often said that he viewed himself as a modern-day Galileo, and he prided himself on the way he visualized original concepts. His first goal was an M.D. degree—but that, he assured Debbie, was only a jumping-off place for what he would later accomplish.
    He first planned to become a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology. “I found genuine pleasure in obstetrics…assisting in the giving of life,” Anthony commented. “It was the gynecology addendum to the OB/GYN that did not thrill me.”
    “Female problems” didn’t interest Anthony, and treating such ailments had none of the drama and joy that came with presenting a new baby to its parents. Beyond that, Anthony cited family loyalty. His father was a surgeon, and he leaned toward a surgical specialty of some kind that would complement his father’s practice. He searched for a residency program where he could learn more.
    With Anthony undergoing intensive training in Puerto Rico, he and Debbie were even farther apart than when he was at Lehigh. But she waited for him faithfully, happy in the knowledge that they would be together forever after four or five years. Debbie kept working and saving her money for that day. She “practically commuted” to Puerto Rico, and she and Anthony seriously discussed having her move there to live with him.
    “But we couldn’t do that,” she recalled. “With our religious beliefs and our families, living together just wasn’t something we felt comfortable with.”
    Sometimes it seemed that their wedding would never happen; Anthony was spending their early and middle twenties in college and med school. Finally, they set June 15, 1985, as their wedding date, almost exactly eight years since Debbie had first run her car into a wall, staring at Anthony.
    She could hardly wait to start their life together.
    *See note on copyright page.

Part Two
The Doctor

3
    A nthony Pignataro and Debbie Rago were married in St. Bonaventure’s Catholic Church before a gathering of more than three hundred and fifty guests. It was a joyous occasion and a beautiful wedding, the culmination of all their years of waiting.
    Debbie had six attendants in mauve satin gowns. Her color theme was mauve and white. She was very slender and looked lovely in her white gown with its long train. A photographer took dozens of pictures of the bride and groom and the wedding party and family members.
    Two handsome families blended that day, but the one member of the wedding party who photographed the best was Anthony. He was so photogenic that it was hard to get a bad picture of him. He had his mother’s fair complexion, and his hair was much lighter than his father’s. The moustache he’d grown after achieving his status as an M.D. only made him look handsomer.
    Debbie and her parents had wanted the reception to be held at Samuel’s Grand Manor, a very nice facility chosen by many newly married couples. It would hold all their guests comfortably. Anthony agreed—at first. But Ralph and Lena Pignataro argued that it would be preferable to have the reception at their country club. Anyone could book a reception at Samuel’s Grand Manor, but only a small number of newlyweds could have their reception at the Wanakah Country Club. Anthony told Debbie that that made sense, just as he always