Wishes

I was just like you. I was born on a Thursday, too. We had the same hair and eye color. I grew up straight and tall and you saw it.

You knew I would get married, but you didn't make it to the wedding (and you told me you wouldn't).

We named our little boy a good Irish name you would have liked and used your name as one of his middle names (with his other grandpa's name), and I did it just right, so you wouldn't be reminded of the father who abandoned you so long ago. As the folks in the neighborhood used to say when he was a baby, Bubba was a buster (see #3 here.)

A decade has passed, and on this day, I still think of you.

Happy birthday, Dad.

Love,

RehabRN

Lest I forget....

Chains do not hold a marriage together.  It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years.  Simone Signoret

Tonight...6PM a decade ago, I changed my life. Happy anniversary Dahey! What a wild ride it's been.

(clink) To many more...

Decade, what decade?

"Time flies when you're having fun." anonymous

I was reading Maha's post the other day about the last decade, and it got me thinking about my own whereabouts.

My decade...in a nutshell.

2000: Maybe they should have called it --Y2K, your life. My life: family deaths, weddings, and a job change all in one year.

2001: Job is cool and all of a sudden on my way to a meeting, hundreds of people are in the lobby. Whoa, some meeting, I think. 9-11 is happening on the screens as I go by, which was so surreal. Next, go to the meeting, come out, get ready to go to another meeting, and find out the people I was supposed to meet cancelled for a very good reason. They were called in to their Army Reserve jobs immediately. Project delayed.

2002: Things were very different after 9-11. Projects on hold. Market tanks and old, venerable company has first layoff. Out I go. I enjoy unemployment so much, I get pregnant. Dahey promptly leaves town for work.

2003: Almost like 2000 again: good things (baby, new job) and bad things (literally and figuratively crazy relatives, wacko real estate deal). Lots of stress going back to work. Dahey is out of job for much of the year, which actually turned out to be a good thing. Can you say Mr. Mom?

2004: Love/hate relationship with job. Lots of stuff in head...go do MBA or take nursing prereqs? Start prereqs, since they're cheaper.

2005: Find out boss is shopping my job to contracting firms. Very, very pissed. Start looking for other jobs. Relative dies, which actually turned out to be a good thing. Relative is best friend of godfather, who works at same company. Boss realizes this and out of the goodness of his heart (with tail between his legs to boss, since he now had some explaining...) rescinds job search for my position. In retaliation, I find a job with better pay and benefits and give two weeks notice. Finished nursing prereqs. Apply to several nursing programs in two states.

2006: Freak out when I get acceptance letter from PrivateU's nursing school. Pay deposit and wait six months. Oh.My.Freaking.Heavens. Give notice at job before start of the year of living dangerously in an accelerated program. One of my coworkers tells me before I leave, "That is the best kiss-off letter I've ever read!"

2007: Graduate from nursing school. What an experience! The overachievers there made business school look like kindergarten! Work at Saintarama in my first job. Have fun, learn lots and have a sore back from all the heave-ho.

2008: Decide I need to leave Saintarama. Was wanted in a bean-counting job, but just couldn't do it, for all the tea in China (way too much hassle, even if it was "education".) Get job at Madison with so much less and so much more. Less driving and hassle and more money. Still have fun with rehab patients. Learn about government bureaucracy. Go to my first conference ever in my career. Have a blast and decide to pursue certifications.

2009: It's a good at the Hotel Rehab. I get pay raises, certifications, an award, and a chance at a desk for that clock/radio I got for nurse's week. Okay, so I don't have the desk yet, and the clock part doesn't work, but it was an effort. Started grad school as a new hobby...sometimes I wish I liked needlepoint like my friend S.

And now it's 2010. We'll just have to wait and see...