Good-bye Party at Work

Friday was my last day at work. It was very emotional. I didn't realize how much of my identity my job really comprises until the last couple of weeks. Not to toot my own horn, but I was very good at my job & it allowed me to get paid for something I loved, meeting, talking, & helping those that truly needed me. It wasn't until the past few months that my job really felt like a job--stress, & disagreements with company policy. I felt like I had no choice but to part ways after nearly six years. I am on to hopefully bigger & better things, but I am going to miss my patients SO much. I promise to visit often. I was honored with a surprise going away party Friday. I can literally just remember 2 parties of this kind in the 6 years I've worked there & those were both Director of Nurses, so this was quite an honor. The CNAs had brought the residents into the dining room along with most of the staff when they called me in. The residents sang to me & Carol read her poem. One of the highlights was being able to feed one of my patients (who just got off her feeding tube) a piece of cake. She is nonverbal due to her stroke, but cried when I told her what the party was for (she didn't know I was leaving yet). I have some wonderful pics, but due to privacy issues I didn't feel like I could post them. So here are a few...My good-bye/good luck cake
Me with Carol, the author of the touching good-bye poem I talked about in my last post.
Me with Belinda, a great friend. I am SO proud of her! She was a CNA for years & recently fulfilled her life-long dream of going back to school (at 30 something) & getting her nursing degree. She just found out Thursday she passed her boards!! I will miss her so much, but we will stay in touch.