Bye Bye

Yesterday was my last day working at the Garden City Community Clinic/Genesis World Mission.
*sniff*
I'm SAD about it! I was driving away and suddenly remembered why I used to feel like investing yourself in things was not worth it. I think it's a common syndrome in military children and other types of people who move around a lot. It's kind of a self-protection thing. If you don't really care too much about anyone or anything then it doesn't hurt so much when you eventually have to leave.
That's all well and good. But a few years ago when I stopped being such a broken and miserable person I left that theory behind me. Because being invested in things is the only real way to experience true love of anything. (Wow, I'm super eloquent today. Watch me go!)
And I have a lot of people to thank for that realization. They're all people I met in Portland at Multnomah; people that I love dearly.
So working at the clinic has been so amazing. I've written about it before I know, but here's a recap:
It has a small staff but when clinic hours are running all the nurses, doctors, pharmacy staff, psychiatrists, social workers, financial counselors, etc. are volunteers. So the clinic serves the population of Boise/Garden City that have no access to insurance and fall into a certain income bracket. They can come to the clinic and receive free medical care, including access to specialists like cardiologists, physical therapists, radiologists, etc, and receive free prescription medication. (Or if they can afford it they can get the $4.00 ones from WalMart.) Anyway it's just the coolest place in the world to be. The people there really need the help that the clinic provides and the vast majority of them are super grateful to get it and are overflowing with thanks.
All I did was patient check-in/out. So I made appointments, helped them with paperwork and moved charts around. And I did some special projects occasionally. Nothing incredibly important, but still a cog in the machinery. And I loved it. LOVED it. I loved the patients, loved the doctors and nurses, and especially loved the permanent staff.
And yesterday was my last day. *sigh*
But it was a pretty fantastic experience. And once I'm a nurse I'm totally going to find something similar and volunteer there.
As cliche and cheese-covered as it sounds, I think the volunteer part was the best part. There's something fantastic about helping someone else and getting nothing out of it for yourself but the knowledge that you've helped. (Ack, someone save me from myself...)
Well back to packing. I'm not sure what I'll pack today but it should be something. Perhaps my piano music. That sounds productive.
Until tomorrow, my lovelies.