Spring 2004 Forward to a Friend



Snow fell hard in central Oregon. Sherry Dress received a call from a patient 160 miles north in Kennewick, Washington. She was in labor! Then another expectant mother called from Whitney, an Oregon ghost town. After that, a third mother called for help from La Grande, Oregon. With three patients in labor scores of miles apart and the roads closed, Sherry, a midwife since 1979, faced a challenging day.

"My Subaru had to push snow on the highway to get through," Sherry recalled. "I traveled up and through mountain passes." Twenty-four exhausting but rewarding hours later, two babies were delivered safely and one mother was resting comfortably from a false alarm.

"I can go anywhere without getting stuck in snow or mud at any time day or night – any time of the year."

Sherry brings love and enthusiasm to every new birth and to her everyday life. "I truly have passion about everything I do and love," Sherry added. "I care for all the people I'm associated with, whether they are my patients, their children, people coming to my health food store or people at my church." That also includes Sherry's own family, which consists of her four children (whom she delivered herself at home); her husband, Michael; his three children; and her grandson.

Caring for life extends to gardening, too. "I raise African violets, orchids and all-year-round cacti," Sherry said. "I have medicinal and herbal gardens along with a vegetable garden and many irises, tulips, daffodils and gladiolas.

"Life is a celebration. Every day is to be filled with joy, peace and right living."

For Sherry's lifestyle and her career as a midwife, a Subaru is ideal. "I can go anywhere without getting stuck in snow or mud at any time day or night - any time of the year," she said. Since purchasing her first Subaru 25 years ago, Sherry has owned 12 other Subaru vehicles. Today she drives a 1999 Legacy wagon, which she fondly described as "dirty and dusty most of the year and my home away from home."