My third, and final, maternity leave is coming to an end…
I want to start this letter by saying, THANK YOU!
Thank you to each and every one of you who takes a moment to read this, who supports Harmony Garden, who believes in music therapy, who trusted me to hire music therapists who would love your family members as much as I do! Thank you to the music therapists who took on the task of “being Jaime,” for each of these three maternity leaves.
Thank you to Rebekah Moilanen, MT-BC; my good friend and a fellow music therapist who I trust whole heartedly when it comes to all things in life, so of course I trusted her with Harmony Garden! She covered my leave when I had Aiden for 6 weeks. The last day of my leave, she called to tell me she was going into labor to have her son.
Thank you to Marissa Kells, MT-BC and Ian Kells, MT-BC; a married couple who took on my 4 month maternity leave when I had Madelyn. I never imagined I would have been able to be away for that long, and you both provided wonderful music therapy services in my absence and helped me gain confidence as a business owner, making the decision to keep a second therapist on staff long term.
Thank you to Masina Rose, MT-BC; the first music therapist to work with me, who I know is here to stay long term! She helps me with many business decisions and provides music therapy services and early childhood music classes along side me. I am grateful for all she does. She also helped me interview and decide on the therapist to cover this last maternity leave.
Thank you to Jennifer Fromius, MT-BC; the music therapist that is currently saying goodbye to all of the clients and groups that she covered the last 4 months of my maternity leave while I had Riley. Again, allowing me to take a little over a 4 month maternity leave, something I am so blessed to have been able to do! Jennifer is staying on at Harmony Garden, joining Masina and I in this journey of growth in Jackson, MI with music therapy.
I’m ready to come back to work. Although, truth be told, I have been working quite a lot, despite calling this a “leave…” But, that is in my personality. I’ve never been someone to just sit around, I enjoy doing. I ran the New Song Music Therapy Camp with Bekah Moilanen while Riley was 2.5 months old, wearing her the entire time…It was fun and I would do it again in a heart beat.
I miss my clients and their families. I miss all the children I see at ABC Academy and in our Early Childhood Harmony Garden Sprouts classes at the office. I miss my hospice patients and their families. I miss playing the guitar (my fingers are going to hurt!), I miss playing the piano, and I miss singing. I miss being creative in music, learning new music, and creating new music with my clients. I will miss my little ones, but because of all the support I’ve gotten in the last 11 years, I’m able to work less days and be home for dinner 4 out of 5 days, Monday through Friday. I think that is a win.
So again, THANK YOU! To my music therapist colleagues, to the businesses in Jackson who partner with Harmony Garden or bring us in each year, to the families who enroll in our music therapy services or our Harmony Garden Sprouts classes, and to everyone who read this to the end.
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