Celebrating ActiveRain Milestones...My TRUE Secret to Success
This week, I am celebrating several milestones and thought I'd share a bit of my excitement with my friends here in the Rain. I've had quite a few ideas for celebrating my 3rd year on ActiveRain, my first ActiveRain client who finally Closed recently (after two plus years of working together) and my 700K milestone. I planned to write all about ActiveRain and its benefits, a thank you to those who've contributed to my success here in the Rain, a thank you to those who loyally post comments on my blog even when I can't always get back to them. I wanted to thank the 'brains' behind ActiveRain and how I simply LOVE it here and can't get enough of it!
I'm ever so thankful for being here and for all of the friends that I've made along the way...
However, after chatting with my friend, Patricia Kennedy at REBar Camp RDU, I've decided not to write the usual milestone-marking post. Instead, I'm going to share my biggest 'secret' with you. Pat informed me that I needed to share my story with you as I did long ago and I thought it was the perfect time to do so. This is really no REAL secret, as many of you know alot of this but, for those who don't, my secret to success started many moons ago...
I worked as a Registered Nurse in the Operating Room, assisting in the Recovery Room on occasion and was selected to be one of six nurses to pioneer a new home care facility for the hospital. That home care facility is now one of the largest in the Southeast and has many, many nurses employed there!
I had to go 'back to school' to learn to start lines that are inserted into the patients (PICC lines) in order to administer infusions which could not be given by the standard intravenous method. I also had to become chemo-certified to be able to administer chemo to patients in their homes.
I traveled ALL over Charlotte taking care of a variety of patients with a host of illnesses. I was one of only 4 nurses who was chemo-certified so, I was assigned a territory (the BEST in Charlotte) that I covered during the week, then we all rotated for weekend call, so we were back to traveling all four quadrants on the weekends! I absolutely loved my job!
Our scheduling coordinator was a friend of mine who gave the patient assignments to the nurses. I would chat with her a couple of times a day and on one particular day, she was just about to pull her hair out! She said that she had a client that lived just down the street from me but, that the "big boss" would not let her give him to me because I was already overloaded with patients. A couple of phone calls later, I convinced her to just give the patient to me and not to tell the 'big boss,' that I would deal with her if she had anything to say about my overload status!
The scheduling coordinator gave me the patient, who was a quadriplegic and was a simple, post-operative patient, not an oncology patient--a minor dressing change, an 'easy' patient! I went to his home and 'admitted' him to our home care protocol and began his 'treatment.' He was scheduled every day at 2:00 with me to perform his dressing change. We would sit and chat and just became fast friends. I later made him my last patient of the day because his home was very close to where my boys (ages 2 & 3 at the time) were staying during my work hours. Because I had no patients after him, we would just sit and talk for a couple of hours! He worked at Bank of America, FULL TIME, drove an accessible vehicle and was completely independent! Remember, I said he's a quadriplegic! I've taken care of paras and quads in my day but, one that actually WORKED was so incredibly rare! His surgical wound quickly healed and I 'discharged' him from my care. He asked to take me to dinner as a 'thank you' and that was just the beginning!
When I met Ray, I had 'sworn off' of men altogether! I was NEVER going to date again, much less MARRY! He simply swept me off of my feet--well, not literally but, figuratively! He was (and still is!) a kind, gentle, romantic and simply an amazing man! He met my boys and absolutely fell in love with them and they were (and still are!) crazy about him! I later found that ALL children are crazy about him and I think we've figured out that it's because he's right at their level all of the time and they can communicate with him eye-to-eye--plus, he's just a big kid-at-heart!
After dating for awhile, we finally married and have lived and continue living happily ever after! Ray is totally my HERO and the main reason that I'm in this business! Ray tired of me giving our home phone number to my patients and having them phone me at 3:00 a.m. in need, and me running out, only to get home in time to get the boys to school and start the day all over again! He begged me to stop working altogether so, I 'retired' from nursing. It didn't take long to realize that I could not live the life of a 'retired' woman so, I picked up my real estate career and haven't looked back! Now, instead of working 24 hours, five days a week, I'm working 18 hours, SEVEN days a week!! What WAS I thinking?!
As for my husband, he is thoughtful in every way and rarely thinks of himself. He's always been there for the boys and I. He attended every single soccer match, swim meet and basketball game of theirs and loved every minute of it! One of our boys played year-round basketball and believe me, there were ALOT of games! I've worked on my laptop MANY hours in a gymnasium! Now they're both in college and we're empty nesters--finally living the honeymooners life that we never had with small children in the house!
We've spent countless hours in hospitals and Ray always comes out smiling and ready to tackle the next hurdle! It's almost gotten to the point that if he ever DOES have a 'down' day, I don't know how to act or what to say to comfort him because I'm so used to just accepting him as who he is and I just want to say, 'Get over it and move on!' That's easier said than done when you're not in a wheelchair all of the time!
My husband is now retired from the bank and works exclusively with our team--he's The Maxwell House Group's CFO. He is a mastermind with the computer and does all of our website management & online marketing--except for property descriptions, photos and, of course, ActiveRain blogging (he'll tell me if I have a typo when he FINALLY reads my post a month later)!! He manages the business and household finances as well. He manages our home, taking care of getting the boys what they need for college and arranges ALL of the work that is done at our home--lawn care, window washing, repairs, etc. He's truly amazing and I am the luckiest girl in the world!
Ray IS my secret to success! Everyone should be so blessed to have someone so special in their lives!
(THE best Charlotte home search available - no kidding!)
Debe Maxwell, CRS/Realtor®/Broker
Broker@TheCharlotteScoop.com
Phone (704) 491-3310
