kreeton's sermon on the mount
well...today was my last day of work at providence mount saint vincent.
it was really weird, knowing that it would be the final night I'd ever serve, get that sweat mark right under my ponytail scrunchy from the 200-degree food, wipe the counters, clean the carts, organize the silverware.
I got called over to some tables for goodbyes and well-wishings and hugs. ruth, one of my favorite residents, gave me two hugs and a kiss on my cheek. lots of people knew I was leaving, and everyone wished me well. people who didn't know but overheard came to ask me and said bon voyage. I got hugs from jessica (who told me not to do anything stupid in college), tina (who kept saying she wouldn't let me pursue any higher education and had to stay), jason (who gave me a last secret handshake and actually said he'd miss me), claudia (who said she'd be there in december when I got back), and even berne (who said he thought highly of me as the first person who ever trained him).
howard just sent me off with his best wishes. but, oh well.
then, I went in to the dining room, where a "secret meeting" was being held... and the room exploded with my co-workers and balloons came down from the ceiling with confetti, and a big banner was hanging that said, "goodbye, kristen!" and there was a huge cake that said "we'll miss you, kristen!" in pink cursive frosted letters! and some people even cried a little, and pictures were taken, and some of the residents skipped out on bingo to come to the fiesta del farewell to kreeton.
actually... none of that really happened. I didn't even get a card. (but the hugging part was real.)
but, that doesn't matter much to me. true, I feel a little (maybe really) underappreciated, as I never even got a certificate of appreciation at any of the meetings, either. so, while that makes me sad, I know I'll be back in december. that's really not very far from now. I'll be back, and then back again in summer. that was a great job... that is a great job.
I made lots of friends. I learned something about finding value in your work that reaches beyond the paychecks and the employee benefits. I loved and lost, I made friends I hope to have for the rest of my life, I played and fought and complained and worked and was a part of something that was more than just a workforce.
I guess this sounds kinda sappy, but y'know? quitting is harder than I ever imagined it to be.
it'll be weird to be around for 4:00 and the afternoon time. it'll be even weirder to not have that same group of people to socialize with on a daily, or even weekly basis anymore.
some big things happened tonight. besides my last night, tina told me that one of my favorite residents, leo, had died the night before. seeing how I hadn't seen leo in many months, though, it didn't make me too upset, because I knew he was in really bad shape. I knew he had suffered. I thought of him being with god, maybe driving a puffy cloud version of his gigantic customized wheelchair across the fluff of heaven, and maybe even stopping by to have a word with al, and it all felt okay.
the other thing was that jt called the kitchen around 7 to tell us that nancy had gone into labor. their daughter, if she hasn't been born yet, will probably be here tomorrow morning.
I'm so happy for them. I want to see the baby so badly, I want to see nancy at her happiest and see how jt acts as a father figure. I don't think I've ever been so happy about a baby's birth, because I honestly do love nancy so much. I thought about how both of our lives were changing so much in only a matter of weeks, days, hours, and the connection I felt with her already strengthened, to know that we were both making endings and beginnings together on the same night.
things are changing so swiftly. a week from tomorrow, I'll be in a completely new city, with a completely new life, and I'm excited and terrified and this is the happiest I have ever been.
so, jobless now as I may be, I can't say that I don't feel rewarded. it's a blessing that I'm even allowed to come back to work on vacation, let alone that I got the job in the first place.
the boxes are getting packed, the items on lists crossed off, and it seems the more organized things get, the more cluttered I become.
it was really weird, knowing that it would be the final night I'd ever serve, get that sweat mark right under my ponytail scrunchy from the 200-degree food, wipe the counters, clean the carts, organize the silverware.
I got called over to some tables for goodbyes and well-wishings and hugs. ruth, one of my favorite residents, gave me two hugs and a kiss on my cheek. lots of people knew I was leaving, and everyone wished me well. people who didn't know but overheard came to ask me and said bon voyage. I got hugs from jessica (who told me not to do anything stupid in college), tina (who kept saying she wouldn't let me pursue any higher education and had to stay), jason (who gave me a last secret handshake and actually said he'd miss me), claudia (who said she'd be there in december when I got back), and even berne (who said he thought highly of me as the first person who ever trained him).
howard just sent me off with his best wishes. but, oh well.
then, I went in to the dining room, where a "secret meeting" was being held... and the room exploded with my co-workers and balloons came down from the ceiling with confetti, and a big banner was hanging that said, "goodbye, kristen!" and there was a huge cake that said "we'll miss you, kristen!" in pink cursive frosted letters! and some people even cried a little, and pictures were taken, and some of the residents skipped out on bingo to come to the fiesta del farewell to kreeton.
actually... none of that really happened. I didn't even get a card. (but the hugging part was real.)
but, that doesn't matter much to me. true, I feel a little (maybe really) underappreciated, as I never even got a certificate of appreciation at any of the meetings, either. so, while that makes me sad, I know I'll be back in december. that's really not very far from now. I'll be back, and then back again in summer. that was a great job... that is a great job.
I made lots of friends. I learned something about finding value in your work that reaches beyond the paychecks and the employee benefits. I loved and lost, I made friends I hope to have for the rest of my life, I played and fought and complained and worked and was a part of something that was more than just a workforce.
I guess this sounds kinda sappy, but y'know? quitting is harder than I ever imagined it to be.
it'll be weird to be around for 4:00 and the afternoon time. it'll be even weirder to not have that same group of people to socialize with on a daily, or even weekly basis anymore.
some big things happened tonight. besides my last night, tina told me that one of my favorite residents, leo, had died the night before. seeing how I hadn't seen leo in many months, though, it didn't make me too upset, because I knew he was in really bad shape. I knew he had suffered. I thought of him being with god, maybe driving a puffy cloud version of his gigantic customized wheelchair across the fluff of heaven, and maybe even stopping by to have a word with al, and it all felt okay.
the other thing was that jt called the kitchen around 7 to tell us that nancy had gone into labor. their daughter, if she hasn't been born yet, will probably be here tomorrow morning.
I'm so happy for them. I want to see the baby so badly, I want to see nancy at her happiest and see how jt acts as a father figure. I don't think I've ever been so happy about a baby's birth, because I honestly do love nancy so much. I thought about how both of our lives were changing so much in only a matter of weeks, days, hours, and the connection I felt with her already strengthened, to know that we were both making endings and beginnings together on the same night.
things are changing so swiftly. a week from tomorrow, I'll be in a completely new city, with a completely new life, and I'm excited and terrified and this is the happiest I have ever been.
so, jobless now as I may be, I can't say that I don't feel rewarded. it's a blessing that I'm even allowed to come back to work on vacation, let alone that I got the job in the first place.
the boxes are getting packed, the items on lists crossed off, and it seems the more organized things get, the more cluttered I become.