Courtney Ellis

Memory shared by Rattan & Doris Bhatia Doris and I had only a few, and far between, occasions to meet with Courtney.The times we remember the most include his wedding, Amina's Fellowship graduation at Emory hospital in Atlanta, and the Ellis family's annual ‘stop over' visits with us during their Christmas holidays in Vermont. Each time during these visits we discovered a new specific aspect of his personality that revealed him as an all-round family loving and friendly individual, as well as an efficient manager and organiser. Our first ‘official' encounter with Courtney was at the wedding ceremony when I had the honour and pleasure of walking my niece, Amina, down the Isle towards the impatiently waiting young and handsome ‘boy'. Both looked happy and loving at the prospect of tying the knot. Amina and Courtney came from different social backgrounds- Amina a daughter of an Indian immigrant father and American mother, and a medical degree, while Courtney a100 percent American and, at that time, a successful professional in the private sector. This divergence must have required substantial adjustment on the part of both in settling as a married couple. As their life history shows, they fully well made that adjustment. I believe that during his bachelor days Courtney must have come across the economic concepts of ‘comparative advantage' and ‘division of labour' that say that interacting entities (countries, companies, partnerships etc.) will mutually gain the most if each party concentrated on pursuits where it has comparative advantage in relation to its partner. The truth of this axiom is evident in the case of the Ellis family. While Amina concentrated on being a pediatric surgeon, Courtney chose to stay at home to raise the new-borns through to their teens. Result: Amina has the reputation of being an excellent surgeon and Courtney could take pride in the way he raised and guided the three infants to grow to become ‘model' children whose love and admiration for him are always on display. Additionally, Courtney used his managerial and organisational capacities to actively help Amina in her quest to seek and achieve her ambitions as a surgeon. He was often the spokesperson for Amina, and he performed that role meticulously well. Personally, I was touched by his two observations he made to me- one at the very early time after their marriage when Amina and he used to come to Arlington often to meet his parents, and another only last month when I called their Atlanta home to congratulate Nathaniel on his graduation. On the first occasion he remarked that when he thought of Amina's family, he felt that Doris and I were the ones that came to his mind the most. On the second occasion, he told me that their children had appreciated reading the little notes that, in response to Amina's request, I had prepared for "My Story" site and wondered why we had not been an active part of their social life. Courtney added that he shared the same sentiments but blamed it on the distances that separated us.