Milestone Anniversaries

This month marks two very significant anniversaries in my life--my wedding anniversary, Pamela and I will be married 39 years on September 10, and on September 22 I will mark forty years in health care.  Both of these milestones are inextricably linked.  You see, if it weren't for Pamela, I wouldn't be where I am today and most likely not in health care.  

I had some wonderful mentors in my early professional life, but no one has had more of an impact on my career decisions than Pamela.  (The amazing impact that she has had on my personal life is a given.)  These mentors would tell me that there was a promotion for me if I was interested.  I would come home and tell Pamela about the opportunity; she would say "and of course you are going to pursue this promotion."  

To this day, I am not sure if it was a lack of confidence at that time or if I hadn't really adjusted to a career in health care.  I had two degrees in Criminal Justice and my father was a police detective; I wanted to be in law enforcement.  I would tell her that I wasn't really interested and reminded her of my career goal at the time.  She would say, "that's ridiculous, a bird in hand is worth two in a bush."  

As I look back, it was clearly reverse psychology...she would say "continue in health care until that right law enforcement opportunity comes along."  In my early years in health care, I had seven promotions in eleven years.  Obviously, the more that I was exposed to the many aspects of health care through such promotional opportunities, the more I enjoyed what I was doing.  Fortunately, the mentors saw something in me, but it would have been for naught without Pamela.  

As they say, behind every great man is a great woman.  I am not sure as to how great I am so I will leave that for others to judge, but I can assure you that I have been married to a great woman for almost four decades.