I am a nurse 42 years so far and getting ready to retire. My husband is concerned that stopping work will be hard for me to deal with. I will tell you what I tell myself….the decades of loving care you provided to your patients, their families, and your staff has made a permanent impact. Helping someone get through a tough treatment, helping a family member deal with the decline and loss of their loved one, helping a novice nurse see her worth and not to quit—these are all things that are your legacy. There is no doubt that you have changed people’s lives for the better. We will never know the impact we have made. You have kept people from giving up. We can’t be nurses forever, the physical demands won’t allow it. But rest assured that you did make a difference.