I tried to retire in July, 2018. The following is the letter of that intent.
I rescinded that retirement before the effective date and worked for three more years.
In August of 1978, I turned 20 years old. In the 2 months previous, I had graduated with an Associate Degree in nursing, had started my first job as an RN and had gotten married.
I wondered what I would do for an encore.
During the dash between 1978 and 2021, I have worked
11 years at Herrin Hospital
11 months at Union Co Hospital
29+ years at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale
37+ years in Obstetrics
16 years on the night shift
39+
years in full time status
2
years in travel nursing
Certified in Perinatal Loss Care
Preceptor for 46 OB nurses, and mentor for many more.
But that’s just the facts of a lifetime career that, over time, became more of a ministry than a job.
As I meander the memories accrued over the past 38 years, I realize that my encore is not one single ovation of accomplishment, but is made up of the multitude of intimate relationships forged in the fire of bedside nursing.
There are video clips in my head. I see faces of patients for whom I have given care during their birthings, their dyings, and in all the struggles in between. Patients and families, who never knew, that in their most vulnerable moments, they had changed me, had made me better.
There are snapshots of co-workers who worked on holidays, women and men who sacrificed bedtime stories and ballgames. These people became my family, and I became theirs. They helped me when I was weak; encouraged me when I was down, and celebrated when I succeeded. And I did that for them. Why? Because that’s what we do, it’s who we are. We are caretakers.
It’s hard to leave a profession such as this. As Ecclesiates 3:1 says: ”to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.” My time here is done. For months, I have wrestled with this decision, but I am finally at peace.
Anne Mileur, July,
2018
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