Deborah Craton's Homepage

Deborah W. Craton, M.D., welcomes you to her humble armadillo burrow on the web

ABOUT ME	MY HOBBIES
MY FAMILY	FAVORITE LINKS

About Me

Hi! I guess since you clicked to this section you want to know something about me. The problem is, there’s not much to tell. My name is Debbie Craton, and I’m a doctor. Many people think being a doctor is glamorous. I guess it is if you work as a doctor on TV, but in real life it’s not much different from being, say, a plumber — you can get real satisfaction sometimes from a job well done, but it can get awfully messy getting there.

I was born in Lebanon, Missouri. (You’ll pardon me if I don’t tell you the year this great event transpired.) I only lived there the first six months of my life before moving to Bedford, Indiana, where I grew up and where I ~~coerced~~ convinced my husband to move after I finished my residency.

Smokey Bear My mother was a nurse in the hospital here in Bedford for many years, and my father was a research forester with the Hoosier National Forest, which is headquartered in Bedford.

I specialize in family practice and have been in private practice now for 24 years. I had to give up obstetrics two years ago because of escalating malpractice insurance costs.

In addition to my work, I also help herd a household of three boys (four if you count my husband), two cats, and four turtles. From time to time I’ve had a daughter thrown in there through an international student exchange program. Between all these and the little sleep I manage to catch hither and yon, I stay out of trouble — which means I lead a pretty boring life, I guess.

My Family

For the past thirty years I’ve been married to a wonderful husband whose name is John Douglas. (Half the people who know him call him John, the other half Douglas; I sometimes call him other names, but we won’t mention those here.) He is a composer and violin teacher. I’m very devoted to my husband and would never leave him for any reason — unless, of course, Pierce Brosnan came calling one day.
We have three sons: Ben (24) who is a graduate of Purdue University and now lives in Lafayette, Indiana; Jonathan (21) is a senior at Indiana University studying Japanese; and Stephen (19) works for w eb-development company in Richmond, Virginia. Now you can start pitying me. Have you ever noticed that TV mothers of three sons tend to die? Witness the old ’60s show “My Three Sons” and all three mothers of the Cartwright boys of the “Bonanza” series. (Wonder what that means for me?)
For several years we hosted foreign exchange students from Spain, Germany, Japan, Finland, and Russia. Two of our daughters (Inge from Spain and Anna from Russia) and now attorneys. Our Japanese daughter, Ryoko, teaches English in her hometown of Fukuoka. We have lost touch with our German and Finnish daughters, but it’s nice sometimes to think about how we have family all over the globe. It makes the world seem much smaller.

My Hobbies

Television viewing. I suppose my favorite hobby is watching television. I think I enjoy this so much because it allows me to suspend my mind after a day of making life-and-death decisions.
My favorite show at the moment is “Navy: NCIS,” though I was also a huge “Highlander” fan when it was on. I’m even a proud member of the “Clan Macleod.” (Photo at right Copyright © 1996 Davis-Panzer Productions, Inc.)
Among my other favorite shows have been “Remington Steele”; “Due South” (I was very sad when it was cancelled ... both times); and “Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman” (who is the kind of doctor I’d like to be — no insurance forms to process, just a fresh chicken or two for the pot). I also watch most “Law and Order,” “CSI,”, “The Closer,” and “Cold Case” episodes.
Collecting things. I do have one rather unusual hobby: collecting armadillos. I have well over 300 different little armadillos about the house (not lives ones, mind) and almost half as many at my office. There’s a story behind that which maybe I’ll post here one of these days, but for now just let it be said that I think armadillos are so ugly they’re cute ... much like my husband. If you want to see some armadillos, you can go to my collection of armadillo GIFs & JPEGs by clicking on the jumping armadillo.
I also collect Barbie dolls, a much more “normal” avocation. At least it would be if I were younger. Maybe the reason I collect Barbies is because I never had a Barbie doll when I was a little girl. My favorite doll is “Dr. Barbie.” After a hard day at the clinic she merely turns her coat inside out and is immediately transformed into a gorgeous lady. Would that it were so easy! (Well, maybe it is. Recently a graphic design artist named David Smith decided to make me into a Barbie. You can see what I'd look like as a Barbie doll by clicking here. Thanks, David!)
Spectator sports. Although I have been accused of being a “sports hater” by our local newspaper (that was because I wanted to emphasize the importance of academics while I was on the school board a few years ago), I enjoy watching both baseball and American football. And being a Hoosier I’d be strange if I weren’t also something of a basketball fanatic.
Reading & Writing: A number of years ago I got hooked on romance novels. Funny thing, that, considering I used to make fun of people who read such “trash.” But when you live in a town like Bedford, it’s nice to escape to Regency England or other exotic locales and experience the thrill of romance vicariously. You can visit some of my favorite authors’ websites from the links below. And now that my sons are growing up and I had to give up obstetrics, I lately acquired a taste for writing. Though skeptically optimistic about eventual publication, the world of romance novels is calling to me.