The House on Oak Valley: SAYING GOODBYE TO CINDY

When the Providence Radiation Oncology Center first opened its doors in 1999, Cindy was part of the original crew. I arrived about six months later.

This past week, approaching sixteen years since the department began, Cindy retired.

Our department refers to itself as TEAM RAD, based on a sign that a former patient made and gave to us as a gift a few years ago.

When Cindy announced last month that she would be retiring, each member of TEAM RAD expressed personal feelings about this matter and those feelings have been forever documented in a video we made especially for her.

Keith, our department director, stands beside our TEAM RAD sign
while he participates in our farewell video for Cindy, which is shown below.

But there is an obvious glitch in this video. Obvious, but intentional.

The voices have been switched around among the persons who are speaking. It actually turned out to be quite funny. The whole team laughed as they heard other people’s voices coming out of their mouths.

In spite of the laughter, however, the central message of the video was clear.

We will all miss Cindy.

Cindy, Katie and I pose beside one of our treatment machines in July 2008.

Cindy, framed in this photo by humans (me, Katie and Kim), poses for Halloween in 2008.

Cindy Lee joined the team in 2009 when Katie decided it was more important
to populate the earth rather than to operate a linear accelerator.

Halloween came again in 2009.

Last week we had a surprise retirement party for Cindy. Sensing that a camera was aimed at her and sensing that her mascara might be moving, Cindy, standing beside Keith and trying to deal with a
pesty lump in her throat, looks down instead of up.