I originally wrote this as a facebook note almost a year ago. We didn’t have an office yet or a website or a blog. So today I just reworked it a bit to celebrate us arriving here, to our forever home a year ago. Enjoy!
Ju
st over a year ago Christopher and I were packing up our things at Re Massage & Bodywork, in Tulsa, Oklahoma to move to Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. After I thought we had every thing packed up I did one last walk through the building. I usually forget something every time I leave the house or office. This time I wouldn’t be back the next day to retrieve it.
As I walked I would notice something, be very glad I saw it and pick it up to tuck in my purse. When I got home later I was sorting through my purse and we were packing the car for the trip the next morning. I pulled out the last five things that I had tucked in my purse and then I cried. For these five things could sum up my 24 years of practice, what was most meaningful to me and what I hoped to be able to create again in Pennsylvania.
Let me explain. Starting from the back, the largest teddy bear is an AMTA Teddy Bear I actually won two years ago at The Chapter Volunteer Orientation Program, which is an annual AMTA event. I won this by doing a video about how much I appreciate and love the American Massage Therapy Association In that video one of things I mentioned was people, being able to meet other therapists and having a network across the country. I had no clue when I did that video that I would be moving to another state. I didn’t know at the time how much I would look forward to meeting other therapists and becoming part of another community.
I am proud to be an active AM
TA member. We have volunteered with the Oklahoma Chapter and attended AMTA National Conventions and Four State Conferences. We have enjoyed meeting therapists from Oklahoma and all over the US. We love the AMTA! I was so glad I had my AMTA bear in the car with me on our trip to remind me that we would be in a new chapter, make new friends, meet other AMTA therapists and maybe even get a chance to volunteer with the AMTA Pennsylvania Chapter.
The next teddy bear is a Breast Cancer Bear. A client gave it to me. She said she was tired of pink stuff and was moving on to more colors. She said I had helped her not just physically but, emotionally so that she could move on with her life. This is exactly what I want to happen again, and again, and again. Not that I want clients to give me presents but, I want to be able to help them. The acknowledgement of that is just extra icing on the cake. So much of my practice was with Cancer Patients, Breast Cancer Survivors and people with Lymphadema. I want to create that in my practice again. I volunteered with Y-Me as a board member and with Camp Hope for over 15 years. I also volunteered with The Young Survivors Network. I don’t know what groups are here but, I bet I find them soon. This teddy bear and pink ribbon is a symbol of hope for a breast cancer survivor. It became my symbol of hope for our new practice.
The square orange card on a lanyard is actually a Coach’s Credential. It was one that Chris used at an event. Given to him by the Athletic Trainer. A large part of our practice was with sports. We had the contract with Oklahoma State University since 1995 and The University of Tulsa since 1997. We worked with a number of High Schools, professional and competitive athletes. We had amazing opportunities to work with Football, Basketball, Track & Field, Cross Country, Soccer, Baseball, Golf, Equestrian, Wrestling, Tennis and Crew teams. There never was any credentials printed up for Massage Therapists but, since we got to be on sidelines, in training rooms and championship games and conferences we needed something to get us in. The Athletic Trainers made sure we had credentials and got in. They were the ones that valued our work, enjoyed working with us and referred athletes to us or brought us in to work with the teams. These Athletic Trainers became some of our best friends. This is another thing I would love to do again. Not just work with a team but, create relationships with Athletic Trainers in Pennsylvania.
The figurine is a Madonna from Lourdes. It also was a gift. Sprinkled throughout our office were many gifts representing a wide variety of faiths. We are not Catholic but, some of our clients were. Of course we still enjoy a wide variety of clients from many faiths as well as Atheists. We loved working with all of them. Everyone is welcome on our table. Faith is never a question or issue in our practice. We are here to help people.
The Frank Zappa CD is one Christopher has had for a while. Both of us use a wide variety of music for our sessions. We love Pandora. We enjoy using music in sessions from artists we actually know, have seen or worked with. I began working with musicians when I was still in massage school at BodyMind College in San Diego. When I moved back to my hometown in 1989 I didn’t think I would ever get to do that again. In fact, it was only a few months before I got my first call to work with a musician that was playing in Tulsa. At first I had a few clients that were local musicians. Then over the years I would get a few calls a year for musicians or performance artists that were playing in Tulsa. When the BOK Center opened we were asked to be the “go to” massage therapist for that venue. So, yeah we hav
e gotten to work with a lot of famous people. No, we are not going to drop names or violate confidentiality. We are not expecting to get to work any musicians, artists or famous people and we are fine with that. Our biggest secret was that we treated everyone the same regardless.
We just love working in our office in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. We are happy to have been here a whole year now. We look forward to spending the rest of our lives here.
So, give us a call at 610-933-3666 if you have any questions or would like to schedule an appointment. You can also click the Schedule Now button on our front page at http://www.phoenixville-massage.com/