Today was our last day of work with Remote Area Medical®.
It is sad to be leaving a job that we have loved doing for so many years, however we are looking forward, with great anticipation, to the new adventure that we are beginning. So, if you can be both happy and sad at the same time, this is where we were today. Our co-workers gave us a luncheon and a beautiful plaque and several of them said things that made many of us cry. It is a day that we will remember for many years.
We enjoyed building the Reach Across AMerica program from the ground up. It gave us a great sense of accomplishment to help the many people from coast to coast that needed free quality healthcare and we like to feel that we have paved the way for our replacements to make a seamless transition so that the patients don’t feel the consequences of our leaving.
We have taken that big old semi, RAM-1, from small towns in the Appalachians, to Native American Tribal Lands, to the large urban cities of America. We understood that people were dependent on that truck, with all of its equipment and supplies to be on time. Some of the trips were more challenging than others. Sometimes there was snow that slowed us down or dust storms that shut down the interstates or tornadoes just ahead of or behind us. However, many of the days were sunny and provided us with breathtaking views of this beautiful country that we call home.
Over the last 6 years, we have met so many wonderful people. Many of them have remained our friends and we have enjoyed watching students who helped in the vision lab grow up and become productive, caring members of society with careers and families. And we have loved getting to know people of all ages who have come into the vision lab to learn how to make a pair of glasses and stay there for 2 to 8 days for 12 to 14 hours making those glasses so that others could see clearly again.
Has it been easy? No.
Have we always wanted to get up at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning and work until 8 or 9 at night? No.
Have we gotten frustrated? Sometimes.
Have we ever regretted doing it? No.
Has it been worth it? Yes.
So, for those of you who have been in our vision lab, or that we have worked with over the years, we say “Thank you”. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without each and every one of you.
It is sad to be leaving a job that we have loved doing for so many years, however we are looking forward, with great anticipation, to the new adventure that we are beginning. So, if you can be both happy and sad at the same time, this is where we were today. Our co-workers gave us a luncheon and a beautiful plaque and several of them said things that made many of us cry. It is a day that we will remember for many years.
We enjoyed building the Reach Across AMerica program from the ground up. It gave us a great sense of accomplishment to help the many people from coast to coast that needed free quality healthcare and we like to feel that we have paved the way for our replacements to make a seamless transition so that the patients don’t feel the consequences of our leaving.
We have taken that big old semi, RAM-1, from small towns in the Appalachians, to Native American Tribal Lands, to the large urban cities of America. We understood that people were dependent on that truck, with all of its equipment and supplies to be on time. Some of the trips were more challenging than others. Sometimes there was snow that slowed us down or dust storms that shut down the interstates or tornadoes just ahead of or behind us. However, many of the days were sunny and provided us with breathtaking views of this beautiful country that we call home.
Over the last 6 years, we have met so many wonderful people. Many of them have remained our friends and we have enjoyed watching students who helped in the vision lab grow up and become productive, caring members of society with careers and families. And we have loved getting to know people of all ages who have come into the vision lab to learn how to make a pair of glasses and stay there for 2 to 8 days for 12 to 14 hours making those glasses so that others could see clearly again.
Has it been easy? No.
Have we always wanted to get up at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning and work until 8 or 9 at night? No.
Have we gotten frustrated? Sometimes.
Have we ever regretted doing it? No.
Has it been worth it? Yes.
So, for those of you who have been in our vision lab, or that we have worked with over the years, we say “Thank you”. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without each and every one of you.
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