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Friday, November 1, 2024

A time for everything...

Today was my last day of work, I'm officially retired! I've worked as a nurse for many years; I worked for 10 years at a hospital on the ortho neuro floor, I then worked at a skilled nursing facility as a charge nurse for about 20 years, many of those years were part time and working nights as I had young kids at home. After my kids were grown, I worked at the same facility as a unit manager for another 10 years.  I loved my work there, but with increasing short staffing I was always on call and working too much. For the last 3 years I've worked in an office that works with geriatric patients, some living at home and others in facilities we oversaw.  This let me still work with the older patients I so enjoyed, but I got regular hours and no on call!  
But Bob retired, and the rheumatoid arthritis I deal with made me think it was time for me to retire too.
My office gave me a really nice send off today.


I'm the first one in the office in the morning and this is how I found my desk when I got there.





They brought in lots of food...






More food, and a sign that says retired, not expired...












Here's some of my coworkers; doctors, nurses and a social worker. We couldn't get everyone for the picture because some were still working.
I was touched that several people who've retired came in, and 3 doctors drove in from facilities they were working in, which just shows what special people I've been able to work with!
God has greatly blessed me all these years, giving me a job I enjoyed, the strength to do it and the joy of making friends with co-workers, patients and their families!

And now I'm going to take a blog break for a few weeks!  We are off on a fun adventure, including attending a special wedding!
I'll tell you all about it when I get back.

42 comments:

Jan said...

Congratulations!!

Deb J. in Utah said...

Hi Mari! Congratulations on your retirement! I hope that you have a wonderful retirement after a long career helping others! Have fun on your adventure! See you when you get home!

Chatty Crone said...

This is absolutely wonderful. Congratulations. They seemed to have loved you and will miss you.
We will miss you here too.
Enjoy your adventure.

Miss Merry said...

Congratulations! I can see how important you were to operations and how much they will miss you. What a wonderful celebration! And you deserve the time to smell the roses. I had originally planned to work much longer than I did before circumstances happened. But it was so nice to give up the work responsibilities to spend more time with family. Enjoy!

Ginny Hartzler said...

Congratulations!! They must all love you so much, and be sad you are leaving. I am sure you will not be lacking for things to do in retirement, with all your family around. And you can sleep late!! And go to bed whenever you want!

KEV. Robertson. said...

Congratulations MARI upon your official retirement from Nursing - you'll really enjoy it. Love and Best Wishes to you and Bob. KEV.

Donna said...

Awww!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! I know everyone will miss your expertise but you enjoying this part of your life is SO much more important! Have a great trip!!
hugs
Donna

roentare said...

This is so looking lovely!

Prims By The Water said...

Congratulations Mari! I loved that banner and so true. Hope you have an amazing retirement. Enjoy your fan adventure and the wedding. Look forward to hearing all about it when you return. Janice

Kay G. said...

What a great send off! Best wishes to you.

Shug said...

I am so proud for you...Congratulations on your retirement. Looks like you had a good crew who honored you well with a nice party. Hope your next few weeks are fun and you get some good rest. I'm looking forward to pictures when you get back..Safe travels and ENJOY!!

Chris said...

Congratulations on your retirement! Now's the time to have fun!

Changes in the wind said...

Congratulations!!!

Catherine said...

Congratulations and enjoy your retirement!

Terri D said...

Congratulations, Mari!! Enjoy your special get-away and come back to blogging because I will miss you!! Keeping you in prayer for safe travels and just let yourself breathe and relax!! Love & hugs!

Debby said...

Congratulations! What a wonderful career you’ve had. I know a little about how hard nurses work as my daughter in law works at the hospital- long hours and on call.
Enjoy your time away from the blog! Have fun enjoying the retired life!

photowannabe said...

Happy Retirement.... so many years of dedicated work.
The hospitals, geriatric patients and facilities are going to truly miss you. Your kind and gentle face and attitude shows how much you care.
Wonderful party
Enjoy your time off. Have a fun adventure and I will be looking forward to seeing your posts when you return.
Sue

Happy@Home said...

Congratulations on your retirement, Mari. Your career sounds very rewarding and I am sure you will be greatly missed. It seems as though many areas of the medical field are shorthanded. That has to be stressful for the ones who are working so hard. Thank you for your dedication for all these years. Now go out and enjoy your well earned retirement! I like the sign ... Retired, Not Expired :).

Sparky said...

Congratulations! I love being retired. I hope the days just keep getting better and better for y'all too. God bless.

Pamela M. Steiner said...

Congratulations! I know you are happy to be finally retired! I hope you have a wonderful trip and enjoy all the happy days ahead! I love that your co-workers had a nice send-off for you! I know they will miss you! But it sounds like you are truly ready for retirement, and I pray that God will bless you and give you good health and strength and many fun adventures ahead!!

The Happy Whisk said...

wishing you a fun and happy new life chapter. Cheers to you with a great big side of boogie boogie.

HappyK said...

Happy for you. Congratulations!! Looks like you had a great send off. I'm sure you will be missed.

Joyful said...

Congratulations on your retirement Mari! You've had a meaningful career with colleagues who valued your work. That's the best. Enjoy your break and the wedding.

Linda said...

I am so very happy for you!!! Congratulations!

Jeanette said...

Congratulations, friend! You will love being retired! Rich and I took a nice trip after I retired too! I think I know what wedding you will be attending! Can't wait to hear all about it!

Michelle said...

I am so happy for you! I know you will enjoy retirement. It has been almost a year for me and not a dull day yet!

Mandy said...

Congratulations, Mari!! This is so wonderful! You have worked so hard for this! I pray you and Bob enjoy this to the absolute fullest! I'm glad they gave you a wonderful send-off because you absolutely deserved it! Wooohooo!!!

Suemn said...

A Big CONGRATULATIONS to You Mari on your retirement! You'll love having more free time without having to juggle around a job. Enjoy your first retirement trip:)

Kim said...

Congratulations Mari! It sounds like you've had a wonderful career and made a lot of friends along the way. Enjoy your trip and your new relaxed lifestyle! Woot!!

Dianna said...

Mari, this brought tears to my eyes. What a special group of people you worked with. Such a blessing that they honored you in such a thoughtful and caring way.

Enjoy that adventure! Look forward to hearing all about it.

carrie@northwoods scrapbook said...

Congrats wonderful hard working Mari!! You deserve such kudos for all the years of service you put in giving so much to others. May you be abundantly blessed for all of it! Have wonderful safe travels and yay for all the fun and freedom ahead! 🎉💗

Jenny the Pirate said...

Oh this is so poignant but as I've told you before, I could not be happier for you!! I know your colleagues will miss you terribly but it is time for new adventures for everyone! Can't wait to see you! Yippppeeeeee wedding bells! xoxo

Lowcarb team member said...

Lovely photographs.
Congratulations on your retirement... enjoy it.
Talking of enjoyment, have a wonderful blog break and adventure.
Wishing you safe travels.

All the best Jan

Jean said...

Congratulations on being able to retire!! I'm a bit jealous! I love how much your coworkers loved and honored you!

Beth Cotell said...

Congratulations!!!!! Enjoy your retirement!!!

Debi said...

Congratulations on your retirement! You are going to love all the extra time you have to spend with your grands!!

Henny Penny said...

Looks like I am about 14 days late congratulating you. Congratulations! Easy to tell how much your doctors and co-workers love you and appreciated you. I always loved office parties...the food was always so good! :) Hope you and Bob are enjoying your trip.

Sandy said...

Congratulations on your retirement. Looks like you had a good send off indeed. What a nice group to work with. Hope you'll be able to stay in touch with folks. Sometimes that's hard to do after one leaves a job. Enjoy your upcoming trip and special wedding. Will look forward to your return to see and hear about it. We got recently from Sicily, trips are good for the soul.
Traveling Suitcase

MELODY JACOB said...

Congratulations on your retirement! What an incredible career you've had, dedicating so many years to helping others as a nurse. It’s wonderful that your office gave you such a warm send-off—sounds like a well-deserved celebration after all your hard work! Enjoy this new chapter of your life and all the time it brings to focus on yourself and the things you love.

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chocolatecovereddaydreams.blogspot.com said...

Congratulations! You deserve the time to enjoy!

Great-Granny Grandma said...

Congratulations! Looks like you got a very nice send-off.
Enjoy your adventure.

Sandi said...

Congratulations! 💃🏻🕺🎈🎉🛍️🎁