Yesterday was a very busy day on the farm!
The morning started with a visit from the farrier.
All of my precious four-leggers were well behaved...
they make me a proud Mama!
(Photo from a winter's farrier visit. No one is in long sleeves these days....including the horses!) |
We are in the midst of a heat wave right now.
Everyone seeks out a place in the shade.
Thankfully, everyone gets along so well...
so sharing the shade is never an issue.
I picked our cherry trees and have enough for a good batch of sour cherry jam.
(now to get the pits out of those cherries!)
Today I will pick Dr. Becky's trees as well.
Today I will pick Dr. Becky's trees as well.
We had a special farm visit from our favorite girls, Maggie and Macy (and some of their friends).
You might remember them from last summer...
they raised those four white chickens and brought them to the farm,
only for us to discover they were ALL roosters!
And what a saga that was.
Yes, that is Macy, above, feeding a chicken Ritz crackers that she holds between her lips.
(She has done this for years...so far so good, she has never been pecked.)
Maggie and Macy celebrate the end of school each summer with a trip to the farm.
These two are natural farm girls, through and through.
(Maggie is in the green shirt below. The two blondies are their friends.)
(Maggie is in the green shirt below. The two blondies are their friends.)
The animals love their visits... especially the liberal portions of Ritz crackers that are distributed!
We've known their mama (below) since she was an adolescent and we think the world of her.
Their visits are always a welcomed part of summer on the farm.
We've known their mama (below) since she was an adolescent and we think the world of her.
Their visits are always a welcomed part of summer on the farm.
********
If you have visited with us for any amount of time,
you might have already guessed that I am married to a rather extraordinary man.
He is one in a million (but extremely humble),
and I am so lucky to have him retired, now, and here on the farm with me.
He wrote a goodbye letter to his staff that I thought was great.
I want to share it with you as well....
All,
This is my retirement clock. What time is it now? It’s Tuesday.
I started with *** in 1991. I remember my first day…I felt as though I jumped on a moving train. I have been riding that train for over 26 years. During the last 21 of those, in addition to a busy practice, I have also served as the COO, Executive Director, or CEO of *** and now ***/******. Geez a real high speed train! But what a great ride! Never boring!
Well just recently, I felt as though I jumped off and discovered a soft landing. And it’s OK; real OK.
About a year and a half ago, I said goodbye to my patients. That was tough. Patients come to trust us, and they let us into their lives. They share their pains, successes, failures, and feelings with us.
Mrs. Smith was 87 and would come in every 6 weeks for an injection in her knees after her husband of 68 years had died. I had treated them both for some 20 years. For her appointments, she would get all dolled up and come to see us. It was something that she had to look forward to ever since her love had passed. I don’t think the shots helped at all…but that wasn’t the point.
My patient Gladys who would call every day to speak to the appointment schedulers and operators wishing them a happy holiday…every day, and she almost never had the right holiday.
Darryl, the engineer who had some arthritis in his knees, would show up with soooo many typed questions for us (the record was 48!). A hall person would go in ahead and field what questions she/he could, then I would finish answering the last 4o on my way home via a phone call….
It was fun. We made all kinds of people happy, satisfied, more secure, less fearful, or even maybe just a little less crabby.
The most important thing I learned along the way? I am such a small part of the team. Everyone would contribute to the excitement that Mrs. Smith would experience getting ready for her appointments. A smile at the front desk, a greeting from clinical, a call from my assistant…it made all of the difference.
When I offered to tell Gladys to stop calling everyday wishing our phone folks a happy Easter in October, they said “No, it’s OK, we enjoy hearing from her.” Wow. That is amazing caring.
When Darryl would ask the same questions almost every visit, my clinical staff was always accommodating.
A patient averages 60 minutes/visit in an orthopedic office. The doctor spends an average of 6 minutes with each patient. The rest of the experience was due to what you all did. For your service to my patients, I will forever be thankful.
It has truly been an honor and a privilege working with each and every one of you. In my role as CEO/ED/COO, I had an opportunity to work and get to know more of you than I would have had if I just had a practice. It was a joy to get to know each of you. Taking care of patients can be hard, but so fulfilling like no other career. Every one of you that I met shared the commitment to be kind.
In my retirement, I will take some call at ***** and will fill in here and there in clinic. Otherwise, as I said to my wife and family, “you are my bucket list.”
Comments
And you can enjoy him every single day . . .
Enjoy this chapter . . .
Please thank him for sharing it with us!
I wish him a happy and fulfilling retirement!
By the way, how did you two meet?!
(Another post?! hee hee!!)