Retirement
Last week’s blog focused on new beginnings and ended with this quote from Walt Disney: “We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” Apparently, my wife Cathy took Disney’s quote to heart because this past week, she decided to give her employer her notice of retirement. She’s been a health care professional for forty-seven years, first as a floor nurse and then an administrator. At one time, her job required extensive travel. She was on an airplane every Monday morning on her way to offer quality management and education to staffs at high-end retirement communities across the country. For the past ten years, she’s been the Director of Risk Management and Corporate Compliance at a small hospital. All these years, at whatever level, she’s been in the service of residents and patients to make sure they receive quality care.
I’ve always admired the self-sacrifice nurses make—the long shifts, the hours spent on their feet, the risks they accept. I’ve been their patient during my own frightening times, and I’ve been grateful for their gentle touch, their kind words, and their excellent care. I’ve known Cathy to be empathetic, understanding, patient, steadfast in any emergency, wickedly funny, and direct—even stern—when the situation called for her resolve.
I admire her more than any words, including the ones in this post, can ever express. Forty-seven years of those long hours. Forty-seven years of taking colleagues’ shifts so they could be with their families on the holidays, forty-seven years of being distant from her own family, forty-seven years of prioritizing the care of the elderly and the sick. No one comes to the Director of Risk Management and Corporate Compliance with good news. When Cathy’s phone rings, it’s because someone has a complaint or there’s an issue of legal exposure that she must deal with. I know, if I were a patient in need, hers is the voice I’d want to hear on the other end of the line. She’s willingly dealt with stressful situations time and time again because she believes in patients’ rights to superior healthcare, and she’s dedicated to doing whatever she can to protect those rights while also keeping her hospital compliant with all regulations. Her behind-the-scenes work has made a difference for countless people.
I admire her for her work, but I also respect her for the courageous decisions she made in her personal life. A single mother at the age of eighteen, she took a job as a nurse’s aide, worked her way through nursing school, passed her RN licensing exams, and later became an Assistant Director of Nurses. Once she started doing quality care and risk management work, she moved up the corporate ladder to a salary of just under six figures. Then her mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. Cathy didn’t hesitate. She resigned her position, so she could take care of her mother at her home in a tiny town in southeastern Illinois. Her mother lived only a short time, and there was Cathy, grieving, and without a job and very little prospect of one in this small, economically depressed town. So, she went to work for a landscaping crew. Her ex-husband told her she was too old to do that. It was all the incentive she needed.
Simply put, Cathy possesses tremendous strength. She’s always been a survivor, someone who doesn’t rely on anyone but herself to keep going, no matter how dark the days. And keep going she will. I have no doubt she’ll end up employed, probably part-time, because she’s not the type to just sit around, and she still has a great zest for life. “I want to do something fun,” she tells me. Something she won’t have to carry home with her. Maybe she’ll work at a local garden center, or become a personal shopper, or work at the public library. I can’t tell you how happy I am for her. She’s worked hard on behalf of others all her adult life, and she deserves to be able to start offering care to herself.
So, join me in a toast of congratulations to my lovely wife, and while we’re at it, let’s lift our glasses to all of us who are still pushing forward, especially the writers among us who get told no over and over and somehow find a way to keep doing what we love.
Congratulations, wonderful Cathy!
I think Cathy’s greatest gift, and the thing that made her so successful in healthcare, is her immediate familiarity. The minute I met her, I felt I’d known her my whole life, not as an acquaintance but as a friend. That shows how open, accessible, accepting and loving she is. And through all that shines that wicked sense of humor, evidenced by a wry smile and the gleam in her eyes. Congratulations, Cathy, on reaching the point of reaping rewards earned, and congratulations to you, Lee, for being the one she chose to share her beautiful, energetic life force with. (I know I just ended a sentence with a preposition. 😜) Much love to you both! ❤️
Gail, you’ve described Cathy so perfectly. She never met anyone who wasn’t instantly a friend. Speaking of friends, Cathy and I are so blessed to count you as one of ours.
Cathy thanks you, Roberta.
I am so happy for you Cathy and I know you are going to enjoy this new phase.
Cathy thanks you, Frances. She’s certainly looking forward to this new stage of her life.
I’m so happy for you. You certainly earned this expanse of time ahead. I don’t think you’re retiring as much as you’re rewiring. It was a pleasure meeting you and Lee in my favorite town.
I’m so happy for you. You certainly earned this expanse of time ahead. I don’t think you’re retiring as much as you’re rewiring. It was a pleasure meeting you and Lee in my favorite town.
Nancy, I shared your message with Cathy, and she thanks you for it. She and I both enjoyed meeting you in VT.
Congratulations!
Cathy thanks you, Anne D.
Cathy, you are amazing!! That’s a long time to be working. Hope you find a chance to relax and have time for all the things you love to do❤️
Debbie, I passed your message along to Cathy. She had to give a 60-day notice, so she’s working through October. Then she wants to do something fun.
Lee,
I retired two years ago after spending my life, since age 17, as a secretary, then journalist, then editor, then educator. At first, I wasn’t sure what to do all this time to myself, but I have really enjoyed volunteering as a literacy tutor. This is a long, roundabout way of saying, I hope Cathy finds new, fulfilling adventures.
I’m sure Cathy will indeed find new adventures, as have you. We missed you at VCFA this summer!
Cheers to you, Cathy! I don’t know you, but I know nurses and they are by far the best of our community.
You’re certainly right about that, Angela. Cathy thanks you!
Congratulations, Cathy, and best wishes as you open a new chapter in your life. I might just show Lee’s message to my wife with the hope it will nudge her toward retirement from her law firm, where she’s been for the last 42 years.
Cathy and I thank you, Clay. Glad to be of help nudging your wife toward her own retirement.
Congratulations Cathy !! You deserve it! Beautifully written as always Lee
Thanks,Deb! And Cathy thanks you, too.