I fell in love with the West when I was very young and
traveled across Canada on a train with my sister, her husband and their 2
little boys. I was the babysitter and
loved every minute of taking care of my 2 little nephews, who are now grown
with families of their own who are also almost grown, but yet somehow I remain
so young. One trip was to the Seattle area,
and the other was a trip to Glacier National Park in Montana. There is nothing quite like walking across a
glacier and hearing it crack beneath your feet.
That and having a little chipmunk eat peanut butter out of your
hand. I then had the opportunity to
travel to the Colorado Rockies with my best friend at the time, and then again
came West to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone with my husband. On our second trip out West, we traveled to a
little town in Idaho called Stanley, camped on a lake, then drove through Sun
Valley and spent the night there, and on our way to Yellowstone, we stopped in
Twin Falls and took a picture of the Perrine Bridge that crosses over the Snake
River Canyon. I find it quite fascinating
that 17 years later, Joe and I would be living just 3 miles from that same
bridge! The path you follow in life can sometimes take
some pretty interesting turns.
As much as I was looking forward to taking about 6 months
off from working to get settled and make Idaho feel like home, I was secretly
happy to have found work so quickly. I
have been working since I was 17, and it felt very foreign to me to not be
working. On top of that, when you do
something you love, it is hard to stay away.
I really had the best of both worlds, because I had some work, but I
also still had some time to get a feel for my new surroundings. It turned out to go on to be a blessing in
disguise to have this account, because in January of the following year, I lost
my mom. It was very unexpected and
sudden, and to lose her before I even had the chance to bring her out to my new
home was beyond devastating to me. She
was very supportive of this move, despite the fact that Joe and I lived just a
few miles from her. She was a very independent woman and rarely asked for our
help, but I know it was still a comfort for her to know we were right around
the corner.
I am a believer in that God does not give us more than we can
handle, but I also believe He does like to push that old envelope from time to
time. As a side note, if you think that
is referring to the envelope you use for the mail, it’s not. Get out your researching skills and check out
the meaning of that phrase. I’ve been
pushed more than once in my life, but getting through 1995 felt more like
getting shoved to the edge of a cliff and fighting hard not to fall off. If you have lost a parent or any loved one,
you know what I mean, especially very suddenly and without warning. So having my work was truly a huge help for
me.
In the spring of that year, I decided it was time to start
growing my service. I got out the yellow
pages and first targeted specialties that I liked. I
included a letter of introduction, my resume, and a self-addressed, stamped
postcard that had a form on the back where all the office had to do was check
off interested, please call; not
interested, take us off your mailing list; not interested at this time, but
keep us on your mailing list. I got
3 interested responses, 2 of which did not pan out. On the third response, I spoke with the
office manager on the phone, but the physician changed his mind. Then in June, that same office called me back
and wanted to know if I was still available.
The physician was a nice guy, a podiatrist, but he just could not seem
to make up his mind. He was looking at
software, still using his current MT, and I just assumed nothing would come of
it. Then in August, he called me yet
again, and this time I went in to speak with him personally. I have to admit I was nervous because it had
been a while since I had an onsite interview for a potential client.
The first thing he says to me is that he strongly felt his
current MT was cheating him. WOW, nice
way to start out a conversation! So I
went into detail about myself, my career, how I charge, turn-around time, and
tried to make myself sound like the best thing to come along since sliced
cheese. I convinced him to give me a
try, and on August 15, 1995, I had my second client. He turned out to be a client I kept for about
10 years, and we had a wonderful working relationship. So by the end of 1995, I was very busy with 2
clients, both of whom also had surgery centers, so I was transcribing office
progress notes, initial evaluations, letters, operative reports, and CT
scans.
I know I made mention of a second heart attack incident that
occurred, which affected both my service and Joe’s career path, but I think I
will hold that for another day. A lot
actually happened with both of my clients that I will eventually get into in
more detail. I will tell you, when you
have your own service, it can get pretty crazy at times.
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