Work

And I have to say one thing about being in the military was, it taught me an appreciation for business because I had been an English and philosophy major. And I had no use for business. And then I could see the work that it took to keep something like the Air Force going. And they, at the time, really embraced good business practices. So, I came out with a greater appreciation for business, and I thought well I think I'm going to go to University of Chicago and get an MBA. I spent two and a half years doing public accounting…It was very interesting because one day I could be at a bank, and the next day a chocolate factory, and the next a stamping and forging factory--it was fascinating.

I think success is being happy in your life and having a purpose to your life. Having good family relationships, that’s probably what I think success is. When I was younger, I probably thought it was more about career, money…I probably have not always made the best choices, but I think that anything that I have done has made me into who I am today.

And in 2004 I became a visiting professor at UMass Medical School in the psychiatry department. And that was because they had at the time, I’m not sure if they still do, a division which was extremely interested in medical ethics and one of the things I had done at the Institute for Medical Humanities was to teach medical humanities and medical ethics as well as history of medicine so it was a very good fit. And I was there as a visiting professor for a year and a half. I learned that although they didn’t have the medical history or medical humanities department, they had an expressed need to do two things. To create an archives; they didn’t have one. And this medical school started, well they opened in 1970. This was 2006, and they did not have an archive. And one reason they became aware of the need for an archives was that the first generation of founders were all retired, some had died. People were leaving, taking their papers with them, and the chancellor at that time, Aaron Lazar, he wanted a history of the school. So, they wanted someone to start to build an archives. They also wanted someone to write a history of the school. You can’t really do that without having an archives because what records will you use?  I negotiated with the head of the library and of the school and they created a position as head of the office of medical history and archives and in 2006 I started officially, and my faculty appointment simultaneously was professor in the department of psychiatry and I spent the next ten years launching an archives and writing a history of the medical school.

First, I worked—I used to make clocks for General Electric [when they acquired] Telechron.  And then after that, the company moved out, so then I collected [unemployment] for three months, and then I got a job at David Clark and I worked on spacesuits. I worked there 32 years. I made more money at Telechron than I did at David Clark ... because I was on piece work at Telechron, so I made good money, that was good money years ago.

I feel successful that I did something important with my life, that I've helped people.  Through the years I’ve saved cards that people have sent—from patients—and I thought, “Wow, this made an impact on other people.” I feel successful that I was a good nurse, not perfect, but I do feel that God gave me the strength to do it and the motivation and even coming to the [WISE] classes now. People say, “What are you going there for?” I said, “Just to get smart.”