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01/18/2017 07:00 AMTwenty-seven years ago, when Susan Bishop of Old Saybrook started out with the Westbrook Visiting Nurses, the organization was based in the nurse’s office in Westbrook High School on McVeagh Road.
“We were all cramped in there,” says Susie, who is retiring at the end of this month. “They were also school nurses which is why we were located in the school.”
Susie took to the work immediately.
“My title is administrative assistant—it’s kind of the fancy term for being the person who does everything in the office,” she says. “I loved the job. It was just one of those things [where] you said, ‘This is the fit for me.’ I never looked back. I loved every minute of it.”
Susie stayed with the Westbrook VNA through four moves and has worked under three different administrators over the years.
“In 2003, when the new Town Hall was finally completed, they made a place for us here. We sit inside the roof, so to speak, of Town Hall,” she says.
Mastering ever-changing rules and regulations, inputting data collected by the nurses, doing the billing for the office, assisting the nurses, and dealing with insurance companies encompassed most of Susie’s time—but she also enjoyed a side effect of the office’s location above the senior center.
“You often have people just walking through,” says Susie. “Many times they just pop up and say ‘Hi.’ Many of them we have serviced as clients and they like to stop by and let us know how they’re doing. We were so isolated in the other places we had, most people didn’t even know we existed. I love it when the people come in, and usually know their names—it’s a nice feeling.”
Working closely with the elderly has also helped Susie gain an understanding for what her own relatives are going through as they age.
“I think one of the biggest assets that I have in my years working here is a respect, an appreciation, an understanding of elderly people,” she says.
Upon retirement, Susie is hoping to spend more time with her two sons, Anthony and Colin, and her five grandchildren. Anthony and his family live in New Jersey, Colin in the French Alps. Susie also looks forward using her spare time as a way to give back in her hometown of Old Saybrook.
“I certainly have a lot of energy so I would like to probably start doing some giving-back time. I see myself volunteering; not sure where,” says Susie.
She notes that her husband Fred’s family founded Guilford—a fact that might guide her volunteerism.
“There’s a lot of history on my husband’s side of the family,” she says. “I’ve always loved that kind of stuff, but you never seem to have the time when you’re raising a family.”
Cooking, canning, gardening—Susie has more than 50 plants in her home—and kayaking currently take up her spare time.
“Our favorite place [for kayaking] is in Stony Creek down in Branford, above the Thimble Islands,” says Susie, whose husband Fred races sailboats. “When you’re on the water, there’s such wonderful peace and quiet. You’re almost in your own little bubble out there.”
Overall, “It’s a special year,” Susie says of 2017. “I’m retiring, got our 50th wedding anniversary coming up—lots of good things—but I am going to miss my job. I’m going to miss the discipline of getting up in the morning; you have a place to go, things to get done, and I am going to miss the people.”