When I started in the OR, I worked with this wonderful gentle male surgeon. At his retirement celebration hosted by the hospital (the good old days), I met his wife. She was elegant and charming and a warm soul. She was a proud wife of a humble surgeon. What struck me then (and perhaps helped me), was that they were retiring in the very home they bought when they arrived in town to begin his career as a surgeon, fresh out of residency.
They never needed anything grand. They wanted their lovely home with all it's memories of time, of family, of successes and heartbreaks.
God Rest his Soul