Kicking Out the Glass

Discovery of an unpublished "Draft" from 5/31/2012:
 This last six weeks has sped past. I turned in my resignation on April 17th, ending my employment on May 30th. Six weeks notice with plenty of time for the agency to replace me and hopefully, have time to train the replacement. No such luck. Out of 5 applicants, they hired our former caregiver/supervisor/trainer. She will do well and when she gets her feet wet with the office waters, again, she will do fine. Her name is Jean, and I adore her. I trained her in 2006 as a supervisor in my office. In 2009, she laddered to an agency trainer for our caregivers.
 On my last day, yesterday, I was turning the reins over to the floating supervisor, who I also have helped train.She is the fourth supervisor I have had under my wing. Yes, that will go on my resume. My decision finally came around the 13th of April. Again, as usual, I was scrounging the remaining money from my checking account to fill my tank for the last two days before payday. As I drove to work, I reviewed my spending in my head, the bills that haunt me, the luxuries I rarely afford myself and decided that I work way to hard for this. I stress and juggle many peoples' lives to not have financial breathing room. I know, I am not alone in this way of thinking. It is a national stress for many. I have always been grateful for my job, especially in the final years of raising my 3 kids through their teens, on my own, with NO support from their father.  That is no longer a consideration. They are working, strong, citizens now. My decision affects no one. I am, for the first time, the driver of my destiny. My financial strengths will not grow at this job. I would likely not be able to improve my credit with this salary. I deserve to spend money on myself. I deserve to reattain home ownership, if I so choose.
 I am tired of the sadness that can surround my clients' lives, and my caregivers' lives. I love the positive influence our agency has in the community. I am proud of my reputation and work. But, it is time to be refreshed with a new job. I am smart enough to know that challenges encumber all jobs. I have been dealing with these binds for 14 years as a supervisor. I was a caregiver prior to that with my agency. 17 years of employment here.
 On my last day, yesterday, my agency Director/Administer came down from Tacoma to see me off and wish me well. I see him, MAYBE once a year. I was stunned when he walked in the door, especially carrying a pretty chocolate cake. I was stunned when he visited with me in my office for 40 minutes. He was gracious, complimentary, encouraging of my new endeavors. When we discussed the fact that I don't have another job, as of yet, he smiled and told me how brave I was, and talked with me about how CCS would "absolutely" hire me for a position if I ever applied for one. He offered to write me a letter of recommendation and said if it ever needed tweaking, to suit a specific position I apply for, to let him know. Shocked, I tell ya, shocked!!
 I have about 3.5 weeks of vacation pay coming and my pension money. That will last me about 7-8 months if life kicked me in the butt. Plus, I heard I can claim unemployment after 10 weeks. These are research topics.
 My sister basically, died a few weeks ago. It took the medics 8 minutes of CPR to get her heart beating again. then, she died again and two more minutes of CPR brought her back. For the first 5 days, gloom surrounded the situation as she was on a respirator. They did remove the breathing mechanism, and after another week at the hospital, they transferred her to a nursing home. From there, she will go to a rehab facility to begin occupational therapy The medics fractured too many ribs during CPR to warrant her to start that yet. I am more than grateful that her mind is not affected. She has some memory lapse on the event and hospital stay, but her personality is busting out. YEA!!

Comments

john bain said…
Money. It is such a pain not having enough. I wish you well for the future. Hope your sister continues to improve.
Claire M. King said…
Thanks hub. I do too. She has had MS for 10 years and the last two have left her basically wheelchair bound. She is only 54. She will have a long haul ahead of her.
Anonymous said…
Sorry about your sister. My God you've had a load to carry what with all that's happened. I do wish you luck. Have you plans for your future?
Grumpy said…
That's a lot of life changing events at one time. Watch for signs of stress.
Claire M. King said…
Thanks bill and grumpy. It is a lot of changes, actually, these last two years has been lived with changes. Positive note:my choices for many. I will be helping my sister when I can and when she returns home.
Hello Claire, I dropped in from John's Don't Unplug Your Hub blog after sadly reading that he's taking a blog break, but at times folks need a change. After reading this post, so do you and I such you well. Change can be hard, but retirement is a good thing as I know myself. And you will also be able to spend time with your sister...what a sad tale. Please do feel free to drop in and visit our blog whenever you need another change. We do like visits too.

Ps. The word verification thingie is really awful, you should consider removing it as it makes it so difficult for folks to post comments.
Claire M. King said…
Thanks for the visit Beatrice!

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