Dear Staff, June 3, 2005

‘Change comes from within’.  Regardless of where this phrase originated, I’ve always liked the simplicity and depth of what this phrase means and what it can do in a person.

I remember my first job (my first career) out of college when one of my colleagues said “The only thing constant here is change.”  The young newbie I was in the working world couldn’t fully understand that comment and was not comfortable with its implication.

Not once in college years or my first career did I ever think about changing careers, but changing careers is exactly what organically happened, twice more.

Becoming a teacher in my 40’s was interesting.  My decision and radical change would mean that I needed to return to college and receive further instruction to further embark on my ‘next venture’ in life.  I remember just before concluding my first teaching year I told Irene ‘I’m not sure teaching is the right decision for me, maybe I’ll change careers again’.  Irene, who was always the level-headed one between us both and the one who kept my feet on the ground said to me, “No, you’re going to stick with teaching for at least a couple years and then make your decision.”

Irene was certainly the one to ‘reel me in’ when it came to sensible practicality.

Within those first couple years teaching I found my groove, and I absolutely loved it.  Teaching became my most challenging, yet most rewarding career ever.  I never wanted to leave teaching.  Knowing that I was instrumental, even by the smallest aspect, of shaping minds of young children as we teachers in the elementary setting, all worked together toward one common goal.  It was awesome.

As my career continued I experienced change in me as a person.  No longer was my goal to ‘make more money’ for self-benefit.  I simply wanted to ‘make a difference’, and that was freeing for me.

Occurrences in life are always bound by cause and effect. This disruption results in some type of change, big and small.

As you all are aware, my Irene passed away last June (25), and my world immediately changed.  The decision to come back to school this year was not an easy one, but for my mental health it was good to be ‘back’.

Before Irene passed I was having a great time teaching and with no intention to retire.  And then this year brought my second shoulder replacement of which I did not want to take place during the school year again.  But the surgery needed to occur, and I had to succumb to reality.

Being out, and further pondering ‘change comes from within’, I realized that change comes from without too.  Cause and effect.  With the loss of Irene, my life and what I did on a daily basis needed to make some major adjustments.  This greater perspective made me realize that I no longer saw myself continuing my teaching career.  With that, I needed to make the very difficult decision, ‘I guess this is when I retire.’

CJD is a very rare and spontaneous disease that strikes only 300-500 people in the entire US each year.  Going forward, my life’s mission will be to help the CJD Foundation (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease) in any way possible to continue research, advocate for funding, and further CJD education within the medical world.  Irene has made this possible for me.  This is the direction I need to go.

Whether you are on the Admin staff, teaching staff, office staff, or auxiliary support staff, I will truly miss you all!

#0 peeps, I’m out.

Believe
🙂