Last Day of Work

There were a lot of tears on my last day of work. Kids cried and I cried. I worked for Wasatch Mental Health as a Case Manager for the last 3 years. I worked at Aspire-a residential treatment center for teenage girls and then I worked for a few months at Vantage Point-a short term, crisis center for teens, and then lastly I worked at New Vista-a day treatment program for teenagers. Each of these places taught me so much and my co-workers were some of the most amazing people I have ever met! So many laughs, so many hard times and tough choices, so many (threats and holds . . . but those are the parts I don't miss . . .) It was an amazing experience and I felt so blessed to work for such an awesome organization. Something kind of cool-New Vista had never had a case manager before. My bosses knew I would be leaving when they gave me the position and it was tasked to me to prove that the position was needed and useful. I had my doubts along the way but things really fell together the last few months I was there.  When I gave my notice that I was leaving it was still unknown if they would keep the position. When the position posted a few weeks later I felt so happy and so excited that I had been able to be successful in my goal to prove the position was needed.  Huge goal accomplished! Part of me wishes that I had been able to stay and keep working in the position. I had so many ideas for where I could go and what more I could do.  I also have to say that in my three years I worked with some of the most amazing, resilient, strong teenage kids-mostly girls- that I've ever met. I have felt humbled to be trusted by them and never took that lightly. 

My last day was incredibly emotional. Hearing the kids tell me how much I meant to them and that they felt loved and heard. I felt like all of the hard times had been worth it. It was incredibly hard to say good bye.

At the beginning of the Summer one of the therapists sent out an email asking if anyone knew how to make paper cranes and if they would teach the kids. I didn't know how to do that so I figured someone else would take that on. Well, one day we had some down time so I asked one of the boys to teach me how to make them and then to teach his peers. He made these cranes. I don't think I'll ever look at a crane again without thinking of my Summer at New Vista.

The same kid also made this long chain. It is made up of about 60 paper cranes. We set it up in the gym as a display for the parents group. This was my last day of work. He gave me the chain afterwards! 

These are some of the other cranes and displays that the other kids made.

And then this was my surprise from one of my favorite therapists, Liz. She had the kids make the cranes and then she put them together in this amazing display. At the bottom of the crane on the very bottom is a bead that she said came from a very old boat. It was incredibly touching. I will miss everyone that I worked with- clients, co-workers, therapists and bosses.