My new reality

Why am I here? So many ways to ask that question: WHY am I here? Why am I here? Why am I HERE?
WHY am I here? I’ve worked as a scientist since 1981 in Academia and Big Pharma. I loved my career, well, until the very end or so. Greg, in the meantime, having worked at Novartis for over 30 years, was offered early retirement along with a nice severance. It was a timely gift from Novartis, as we were already considering retirement. The previous year we discussed our future, having weathered a medical concern on Greg’s behalf, but more importantly we suffered the loss of my sister, Tricia, with whom we shared our love of the Adirondacks. Life is short. So, the house sold quickly, just days prior to going on the market. We moved ourselves as I have already noted, and are now ensconced in our former vacation home on a lake. I’ve finally joined Greg full-time and every day still feels like a vacation. We are SO busy, it’s a wonder how we ever had time to fit a career into our lives.
Why am I here? Here’s a rundown of some of my former jobs which helped to make us financially sound. I’ve been working since at least 1974 when I was 16. I worked part-time throughout high school and college and afterwards as a keypunch operator/data entry operator. Also during that time I was a seamstress, babysitter, horse-sitter, craft show crafter, barmaid, and bartender at the 1st World’s Largest Disco. I then started my career in science at the University of Buffalo in the Physiology Department doing ion channel research and electrophysiology, then onto the University of Rochester continuing membrane physiology research. I also earned my realtor’s license and worked in a fabric store as a second job. Thereafter we moved to NJ and I began my Big Pharma phase, working at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology followed by 15 years in the Molecular Biology Department at Lederle/American Cyanamid/American Home Products/Wyeth/now Pfizer, then onto Massachusetts in the Oncology Department at Novartis, and finally, 12.5 years in the Astrazeneca Oncology Group. Basically, no more than 4 months off at any one time for 2 maternity leaves and 1 layoff. And now I am taking my ‘stay at home’ mom time, except the kids are grown and the only demands on my time are my own!
Why am I HERE? Greg’s family vacationed in the Adirondacks since he was young, at a former Great Camp known as Sekon on beautiful Upper Saranac Lake. His family has history here. We’ve been coming here since we were married, vacationing with Greg’s family and mine. Our kids and their cousins spent quality time together here and we fell in love with the lakes and mountains and outdoors. We decided to invest in building a vacation home, quite literally, building it ourselves over the course of several years. Construction began in 2006. With the enormous help of family and friends and with Greg’s boundless energy and drive, we now are able to live here and welcome anyone willing to make the journey to come and visit.