Retirement here I come!

Today is my last day of working for the Federal Government. I started back on January 7, 1975 as a Cashier at the Fort Myer Commissary in Arlington, VA. That was my first job, then I went through a RIF (Reduction in Force) and went to work at Fort Belvoir as a Mail Clerk for 9 months. That was boring and then I was a Accounts Maintenance Clerk, Accounting Technician, Budget Analyst, Computer Assistant, Computer Programmer Specialist, Computer Specialist and lastly Information Techology Specialist (IT). Funny thing is that I never left working for the Department of the Army and came back to Arlington in 1992 after going through another RIF to work for the US Army Inspector General Agency in the Pentagon. I worked in the Pentagon for over 5 years and got to meet a few famous people; Steven Spielberg and Colin Powell. I saw Bill Clinton give a speech and even remember seeing Monica Lewisnsky and Linda Tripp when they were working in the Pentagon not far from our offices. Most of our Divisions in the IG moved out of the Pentagon in December 1997 to Crystal City in Arlington, VA due to the renovation of the Pentagon. I was not in the Pentagon on 911 and I still think about the people who lost their lives that horrible day. We had three Divisions in the Pentagon on that day no one was hurt just some water and smoke damage to their offices. It was a day I will never forget. I remember when I heard what happened in NYC and watching on the large screen TV in the Chaplains conference room near our office in Crystal City. I got a call from our son Bryan who was working in Herndon telling me something hit the Pentagon. I pressed my face to my window and I could see a large plume of black smoke coming from the direction of where the Pentagon is. I just wanted to get home as fast as I could. It took me over 3 1/2 hours to get home. I never wanted to go to the Pentagon again but with offices still located there I had to go back from time to time.

I have spent half of my career with the Army IG. When I started in Decemeber 1992 with the IG they had just got IBM personal computers. I had never used a mouse before. I worked in the Information Resource Management Division for over 17 years while with the IG. Techology continues and things have changed a lot over the years. I will miss my co-workers and yes even my work but I felt it was time to retire and start a new chapter in my life's journey. I will be able to spend time with my husband Earl and we can pick up and go wherever we want when we want. I won't have to worry about how much vacation leave I have. Thanks to Facebook and email I will stay in touch with a few of my co-workers. In fact I will go back the end of April to attend the office luncheon and farewell as another co-worker is retiring. I feel blessed to have had a career, a wonderful husband, son and family all of these years. Life is good and God is great!