Yesterday I turned in my retirement notice. Yes, I know I have done this before but this is for reals. I am set to start collecting Social Security in November if this administration doesn’t f…. that all up. I will probably work part time when I return and recuperate, I can figure that out later.
When I reflect on my work I feel a sense of pride. I have spent most of my work career working in Social Services. The job that I have the most pride in is my time at Project Offstreets. I started as an intern and then when I graduated as an Intake worker, Casemanager, Supervisor and finally Drop-in manger. This was in the late 80’s and all of 90’s. It was a drop-in center for homeless and sexually exploited youth in downtown Minneapolis. It is hard to explain to a lay person what this experience was like. The main thing is that I worked with an amazing and complicated group of people who all had their own ways of doing this work. The main stars were the kids. These were a variety of kids who came from all walks of life. They all had different stories about how they ended up where they did. When people say “they didn’t want to follow rules” it makes me mad because those kids were a tiny percentage. Most of the youth who spent time with us came from families with generational trauma, and were multi dysfunctional. I would say most were kids that the system failed, many had aged out of the social services systems. They had multiple placements in treatment centers and foster care. I have heard so many horrific stories of things they experienced while in the care of these places. I worked there for fourteen years and essentially grew up there. I was a fresh out of college and worked there til my mid thirties. They are strong and resilient. They formed a community that while it wasn’t perfect truly watched out and protected each other with a fierce love. Not all of them made it, lots passed away way too soon, and it is so sad that they never got a chance. It is hard to make piece with that. I have been blessed to have kept in touch with some on Facebook and it is so fun to see what they have done with their lives. I could go on and on about this but I am so proud of them and us for what we built way back when.
Of course there are lots of other jobs but that is what I’m most proud of and hold tight to my heart.
So I will finish off this month and be done October 1st. Then we take off on our South American Adventure October 11th. I’m so excited and nervous. The main thing that I’m nervous about is day 2 of the Salkanty Trek which is 15 miles up a mountain! eeek!
Here it is October 1st, my first day of retirement! I’m excited for this next chapter of my life.
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