Veronica (Roni) Bergman:  

What has been going on since graduation from GKSN? Having dated all through nursing school, Bob and I married in November 1967 and moved to Waltham, MA. I began my nursing career as a Psychiatric Nurse at the State Hospital that was within walking distance of our apartment. I found myself pushed into a head nurse position within 3 month of hire as they moved RN’s into leadership roles for the treatment units. It was an amazing experience for me. I was intrigued with McLean’s Psychiatric Hospital (affiliated with Harvard Medical School) located a couple of miles in the opposite direction of our apartment and began working with a “transition unit” for about a year and a half. What a wonderful learning experience working in that progressive hospital. In October of 1968, we bought our first home in Billerica, MA and lived there until 1988. With a new home, a cat, and a dog, we opened our home to a foster son. We then added our own two children, Kristen and Robert. I worked part time in Medical and Surgical at a local hospital and then a Nursing Home for several years. When the opportunity presented itself at a CEU offering at a County Hospital with an on-site hospital based nursery/kindergarten, I applied and began Rehab Nursing as a supervisor of a high level quadriplegic transition unit. This was exciting because we were leading the state with rehabilitating stable quads who were attending college to gain new skills and transitioning them into the community to independent living with Personal Attendants. While working with the quads (one of whom was actually featured on 60 minutes with his personal attending monkey), I attended Emmanuel College at night to obtain a degree in Rehabilitation Counseling. I had responsibility for hiring, training, and managing the staff of the unit and worked with In-service Education for the hospital for over a year. When I left the County Hospital, I took my retirement money out; bought a boat that provided us with many happy weekends and summers on the Massachusetts North Shore, Essex River; and developed some long lasting friendships. As I continued to pursue my BS after leaving the hospital, my focus for elective courses was education. I obtained a certificate in occupational education during my last year at Emmanuel ans spent my days either studying or working as a substitute teacher at our local Vocational Technical High School. I then took a Civil Service Exam to qualify for a School Nurse position for local towns. Once the children were able to attend public school, I accepted a position as a school nurse in the town closest to us where I worked for 14 years. This worked out perfectly by providing time off with the kids and family. I continued to work in nursing homes and hospitals as an agency nurse during the nursing shortage, which was a great supplement to the low school nursing salary provided by the town. When our daughter, Kristen, graduated high school in 1989, we sold our home in Billerica, bought land in Rowley, and built our “cocktail napkin” home. That is what we called it because we designed it on cocktail napkins or anything else that was available when my husband and I could find time to sit and talk. Only after living in Rowley for several years did we find out that my father’s ancestors ...Expand for more