Putting an end to the career

My wife has decided to close her psychiatric practice this Septemember. 

In our engagement days, at first, she would major in otolaryngology. Before we knew each other, she seemed to plan going back to home and work for a certain administrative agency office there. 

I whispered my wife to major in psychiatry. I thought it was more suitble for her than surgery related subjects. Being aware of that or not, I might want her to go to that speciality on behalf of me. Psychiatry has been the speciality I was thinking for my own. There was a renowned psychopathological researcher as the professor at the Psychiatric Dept. at the school where we were going to serve residency, whom I had admired before entering the med school. He was a graduate of the same med school as we did. 

She has been a bookworm since young days. She loved reading novels. By the extention of interest in human beings in novels, I thought, she might enjoy working for psychiatric patients. Those days, she used to be more respectful to what I said than at present or she might have her own idea for determining her speciality. She has chosen psychiatry for her profession.    

This photo was taken at the campus of ICU in Tokyo. Possibly in spring when preparing for the doctor licence exam. A shy girl. She might get mad at me if she knew this photo was posted here.

Anyway, we started our residency at a med school nearby here in 1978. She has been so busy at both work and home chores. I still remember she was staying up all night before presentation to the staff at the Dept.

However it might have been busy days for us, we have felt it was worth working hard. Everything was new to us. Time sure flew like an arrow. This photo, I have already posted somewhere in this blog, was taken at the med school campus when we were expecting the first baby.   

I have never asked my wife if she was happy with the career she had. She worked at a couple of big hospitals. It took her an hour drive from home to the last work. As I started own prctice nearby here, I told her to do the same. My experience was a bit of help to her starting her practice close to the med school we spent residency. Colleague and younger doctors at the Dept. of Psychiatry have kindly backed her up in the beginning. 

She always went for work carrying a number of bags like this. Taken at the exit of our house more than ten years ago. 

It is more than half a century for her since studying medicine in Tokyo. And twenty six years have passed since she began her office of psychiatry. It is a real long time. Now, preparing closing her office, she has been kept deadly busy writing a letter of introduction to another psychiatrist for each patient, who would take over him/her. It is like writing his/her biography. She has been doing with him/her for 10 or even 20 years. Not an easy task. She complains of the number of the charts piled on the desk to wirte such letters every day. But I am sure, when looking back of this work later, she might realize it has been summerizing her career by herself. 

In advance, good work has she done! It is not the end of our journey of life. The other chapter of life be blessed good health and happiness for her.