Elaine and Eric Adams credit Cornell with giving them two great opportunities to start a new life.

The first opportunity was 13 years ago, after Eric Adams was laid off from his sales position handling construction accounts in an Adirondack lumber company, and the couple sold their home of 40 years to move closer to their daughter, who was then attending SUNY-Cortland. Eric and Elaine Adams both landed custodial jobs at Cornell. "It was hard to start over, but Cornell gave us a chance. We're extremely grateful," says Elaine, who had previously worked as a telephone operator. Eric worked for four years as a custodian before becoming a facilities assistant for two years and a maintenance mechanic for the past seven, working at the Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research.

Elaine works at Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI). "Working at Cornell has been very different for me -- both in terms of the work I do but also because in BTI you meet people from all over the world. I've enjoyed my contacts with many different faculty, staff and students," she says.

Notes her husband: "When we shared our reflections about Cornell with each other, we both agreed that business-wise, benefits-wise, people-wise, Cornell is the best place we've ever worked."

The second opportunity came with the Staff Retirement Incentive program. "We actually had planned to retire this year," Eric says, "and we had already sold our house here and moved into an apartment when the SRI was announced. The timing could not have been better."

The Adamses plan to relocate in North Carolina, where their three children and four grandchildren now reside. "We've already rented a townhome in Zebulon that is close to all of them," Elaine says. "But first we plan to take the summer off to travel, visiting relatives and friends in Kansas, Georgia and the Adirondacks."