THE REAL LAST DAY WAS MAY 22!

When I first decided that I needed to quit working at The Children's Center last November, I said it would be the first of May sometime.  As it got closer, I set May 9 as my official last day.  However, as I ended up seeing clients until May 8 and I got sick that night with a stomach virus which lasted 4 days, I was left with a mountain of paperwork which I still hadn't completed--mainly discharge reports which tend to pile up. 

In the almost 3 years I was there, I probably saw over 100 clients which is a lot of people and stories and memories.  The last six weeks of work I have mainly been having goodbye visits with clients and their families or doing paperwork--two things I didn't like about my job so the past several weeks have been a bit brutal.  Even doing discharge reports was hard as it brought back so many memories--good and hard of these little people who I had worked with.  Especially hard were the ones that dropped out of therapy and I don't have a sense of what was going on with them.  I got some sweet cards and gifts from clients as well who had purposeful and planned goodbyes.

My last full week in mid-May, I told Gary:  On Tuesday night I cried, because I was going to miss my clients and those I work with and how could I really leave.  On Wednesday night, I was so tired and just done and wanted it to all be over.  On Thursday, I felt a relief--a sense of freedom (that is the day I counted less than 20 files that I had to audit and write discharge notices for.)  That is a lot of emotion to end each day with---plus the above mentioned emotions that came each file I opened to audit during the day.

This past week, I worked Monday and Tuesday and then went in on Wednesday to say goodbye and have my final supervision with my supervisor.

The toys which weren't mine so got left behind
for the new therapist

The new therapist was in the office doing training,
so my last three days we shared.

 The view out my window

The last day this was on the wall by my office door---

My post on Facebook:  "My last day finally really happened. After almost three years, I finished my last bit of paperwork...saw my last client a couple of weeks ago...and said my goodbyes to The Children's Center. It has been great but I am ready for other adventures both as a person and a social worker. Still have about 1500 hours left to get completely licensed as a social worker (we call it getting our "L") so I will get a part time job somewhere doing something social work but for now I am looking forward to summer fun and home projects."

And so that part of my life ends.  I wonder what will be next?