The tall guy in the red is Keith. Keith is one of those friend's a person can count on to be there. Last February, on my diagnosis day, Keith drove down from Port St. Lucie to be at the doctor's office for support and to translate the medical lingo to Larry afterward. In front of Keith is Gerri D.,The man of honor, Steve, and yours truly.
Barbara is wearing the green sweater. The trio is Steve, Gerri D. and Rayanne. Rayanne is the wife of my co-worker PA Frank who couldn't come as he was on call at the hospital . Rayanne is a social worker at the VA. In fact we used to work together but she moved out of the trailer and into the building when she and Frank got married. They are great friends and truly funny.
Although happy that Steve retired, I've been lost. When you eat lunch with somebody everyday for for 12 years and then IM on the computer when you get home from work. Steve's a great supporter of my anti-war and political activism and is also involved in activism. Steve was our union representative on the hospital safety committee and made administration accountable for safety of our patients and staff. In our current government's administration, little value is placed on life which is considered disposable and as more and more employees were injured due to unsafe conditions, Steve worked hard to hold to get them to see employees as individuals not as a calculated risk factors figured by actuarial standards or some other round about way of providing a safe workplace. Steve and me also worked on the Kerry campaign together. Steve had the distinction of having Mark Foley as a congressman. Every time Mark Foley would support some crazy Bush policy designed to hurt the middle class or poor, Steve would send him an e-mail. Foley finally quit responding.
We never had a proper farewell party for Steve. He was honored at our mental health holiday party which wasn't a proper farewell for somebody who has worked for so many years as a great social worker.
So last night, his closest friends from work went to the Yard House Restaurant at Downtown at the Gardens and gave Steve a proper retirement party.
Although happy that Steve retired, I've been lost. When you eat lunch with somebody everyday for for 12 years and then IM on the computer when you get home from work. Steve's a great supporter of my anti-war and political activism and is also involved in activism. Steve was our union representative on the hospital safety committee and made administration accountable for safety of our patients and staff. In our current government's administration, little value is placed on life which is considered disposable and as more and more employees were injured due to unsafe conditions, Steve worked hard to hold to get them to see employees as individuals not as a calculated risk factors figured by actuarial standards or some other round about way of providing a safe workplace. Steve and me also worked on the Kerry campaign together. Steve had the distinction of having Mark Foley as a congressman. Every time Mark Foley would support some crazy Bush policy designed to hurt the middle class or poor, Steve would send him an e-mail. Foley finally quit responding.
We never had a proper farewell party for Steve. He was honored at our mental health holiday party which wasn't a proper farewell for somebody who has worked for so many years as a great social worker.
So last night, his closest friends from work went to the Yard House Restaurant at Downtown at the Gardens and gave Steve a proper retirement party.
No comments:
Post a Comment