Twelve years and counting…

September 29th marks my twelfth year at Children’s Specialized Hospital. On one hand it seems like it went so fast, but honestly it is hard to remember my life without Children’s Specialized Hospital in it!

There is so much that I think about as I reflect back on the last 12 years.

I remember so many of specific moments—Hurricane Sandy; moving to New Brunswick; opening Lakehurst, Clifton, Bayonne, Newark, Egg Harbor, Warren, and Plum Street; and all of the renovations in Mountainside! I look back on the children who have come into our lives, and the tremendous courage of each of them as well as and their families.

The smiles, laughter, and accomplishments of so many of you who have let me into your lives both professionally and personally.

All of the trips to Washington and Trenton to advocate for our children and our hospital, AND the families who have let me drag them all over Washington to tell their stories over and over again to anyone and everyone.

As the flood of memories comes back, the one commonality among them is the smiles and laughter.

The galas, the speeches, and the fundraisers all with special moments and shared joy. In the same respect, I remember the sorrow from the children and staff who were taken from us too soon.

Prominently displayed in my office is the beautiful book I received as a gift on my 10th anniversary. It includes letters from many of you and pictures of our children. It brings tears of joy to my eyes every time I look at it.

While I have many funny stories, nothing will ever top the story about Congressman Mike Ferguson coming to a check presentation in Mountainside. The Congressman was coming to do a press event about money he had secured for us for renovations in Long Term Care. If you know me well you know I hate photos with checks so I asked if the Congressman would read a book to the kids instead.

The kids had just come home from school and one of the little girls – who was the most charismatic, outgoing, spitfire we have ever had stay with us – was giving me a hard time about coming to the event. So now here I am begging her to come to this event and she asks me why the Congressman is coming. I tried my hardest to explain to her that he was coming to read us a story and people were going to take pictures, but she was just looking frustrated because she didn’t understand why. So, I said “He is bringing us cash.”

I didn’t think any more about the conversation and went off to meet the Congressman. The little girl comes in, wheels into the front row, and when he is all done reading the little girl has this face on—I am sitting right next to him so I know something is up.

He looks at her and asks, “Would you like to keep this book?”

This is the best part…

She replies to him with, “No, I want the cash!”

Now, you can imagine my face as I’m watching this whole thing go down (actually you can sEE it in the picture above!). I told her he was bringing money! Did I mention that the Star Ledger was there? I almost died! I never tried to explain away because there was just nothing to say…but out of the mouths of babes!

I can’t even begin to tell you what an honor it is to serve with each of you in our efforts to fulfill our mission of creating a world where every child can reach their full potential. Thank you for all that you give and your dedication to our children and each other.

Cheers to many more years of great things at Children’s Specialized Hospital.