My Life at the Cambridge Hospital

When I walked through the doors of the Cambridge Hospital back on October 2, 1990 I never thought for a moment that I would spend almost 26 years of my life within those walls.  I was 23 years old, freshly married of two years and didn't have any children at the time.  I was hired into a 3-11 shift and after a couple of years I transitioned to days, working 7-3, the shift I kept for over two decades.

The commute into the city was easy breezy given the fact I lived 15 minutes away.  But after my first son was born, we bought a home up in southern New Hampshire which increased my commute to over a half hour, on a good day. I did what I had to do, not thinking much of it at the time.  Up until a few years ago I dealt with it just fine.  That's when the stress of it all started to set in as every afternoon's commute got longer and longer and I found myself increasingly frustrated.  When the decision was made to leave my job at the hospital, my afternoon commute was up to an hour and fifteen minutes.  I'd sit in my car, stopped in a parking lot of traffic on route 93 north asking myself how I had done this for so long.

This past February my family and I took a wonderful cruise vacation to the Caribbean.  The night before I was to return to work, my husband asked me what my biggest challenge was going to be the next morning.  My answer was going back to a job I was no longer passionate about and dealing with an awful commute again.  I got to work the next morning and logged into the network.  Upon opening my email I saw one from the CEO.  The Cambridge Health Alliance was scheduling a reduction in force and offering packages for folks who qualified and wanted to leave.  Immediately the gears in my head started turning and I thought, could this be my golden opportunity?

Yes, it was.  And I grabbed that opportunity with both hands and set the intention to make it happen.

I grew up at the Cambridge Hospital.  This is where I matured and discovered so much about life.  At one point I was the same age as the new incoming interns.  Around the time I left I would look at the newbies and think my God, they look like they're fresh out of high school!  I knew I had been there far too long.

​I went through a period of being embarrassed to tell anyone that I had worked at the same place for so long.  It was the fear of judgement and I would criticize myself for not making more of my life or for not getting some kind of degree like other people did.   Until one fated conversation with a long time co-worker who helped me see my tenure from a different perspective.  I made a list.  A list of everything the Cambridge Hospital has offered me over the years.   This is what I came up with, what I'm grateful for.

• Ideal hours / flexible hours
• Benefit time - never denied a single day off in 26 years.
• The opportunity to raise two children.
• Friendships that will last a lifetime.
• Personal & professional development and improvement.
• The opportunity to learn about different cultures.
• The practice of tolerance, patience, acceptance and understanding.
• Financial security
• A pension
• The opportunity to start a new adventure, a new chapter.

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 Working in Cambridge all these years was what I was supposed to be doing. It was part of my life path and I accept it.  As I reflect I see the present moment as part of a transition that began a few years ago, around the time I enrolled in iPEC for my coaching certification.  It was back then I started to feel the pull to do something more with my life, a pull to be of service to others using my natural gifts and talents that I was just starting to discover and acknowledge. 

This part of the transition is exciting and it's terrifying and it's only been a week since I left!  This process of officially "retiring" from the city of Cambridge took four months and was filled with countless conversations with my husband (my biggest supporter), a multitude of decision making (besides the decision to leave), questions, doubt, fear, more questions, but it's all worked out for my highest good and my greatest joy.  I offer gratitude not only to my husband for being here with me every step of the way, but to the Cambridge Hospital as well, for all that it has offered me over the years.

​I miss the folks I worked with and all the conversations, laughter and tears we shared together.  They are forever etched in my memory with fondness and appreciation.  However, I don't and never will miss the commute.  I send loving, patient energy out to all who continue  to travel up and down the stretch of Interstate 93 that runs from the New Hampshire border down to the city of Boston.  May some of you receive the opportunity to do something different in life that will free you from that commute!


Now I set out, onward, upward and forward into this new adventure called the rest of my life!