Susanna Fletcher Greer, Chief Scientific Officer at the V Foundation, shared on LinkedIn:
“Tomorrow, my son is stopping by so I can straighten his tie and wish him luck before an internship interview here in Atlanta. I’m sitting here now reorganizing my day and meetings around this most important appointment.
We’ve always been a team. When I learned I would become Chief Scientific Officer at the V Foundation, I think he was more excited than I was. He knew this was my dream. When he was tiny, he came to lab meetings when daycare was closed. My graduate students took turns holding him while we talked about their data, troubleshot experiments and planned next steps.
I remember going back to check in on the lab just 3 weeks after my C-section. He was safe in the arms of family, but I missed him terribly. I also felt responsible for my graduate students and the work we were doing. They were important to me. He was important to me. The research we were doing together was important to me. Turns out, the buck stopped with me in the lab. And the buck stopped with me as his mom.
I didn’t always (ever?) know how to do both well. There were many school drop-offs and most school field trips I missed. Running a lab could feel like a 24-hour commitment, and as he grew, he made sacrifices too.
During those years, three more babies were born to graduate students in my lab. I’m proud of the science we did, and I’m proud that parenthood was part of our lab’s story. I tried to give those women and men the support they needed to know they could be parents and outstanding scientists.
I loved being a mother. I loved being a scientist. I still do.
And, being his mom has given my work deeper purpose: helping build a world where his generation, and the next, face an easier path if cancer enters their lives. Helping make the path easier for the women coming behind me in science is important to me, including those who choose motherhood.
This morning, that means finding the flexibility to rearrange meetings so I can be there for a tie check and a good-luck hug.
To the women finding room for work they love and the families they love: both are worthy of your ambition, your time, and your care. You deserve support as you make room for them.
I see you, I’m cheering for you, and please know…you’ve got this and we need you!”
Other articles about Susanna Fletcher Greer on OncoDaily.