Forty Something
It was a bit of culture shock to leave a large corporation after a long tenure to work for a small entrepreneurial company … a telephone list by first name … seriously? But the company was growing, successful, and professional. And many others followed.
A few months later, the counselor came on board (she, too, came from a large corporation) and developed an in-house legal department from scratch. She treated me as her equal. She restored my faith in her profession.
We were close in age. Her only son was the age of my youngest son. We lived in the same suburban school district a half-hour drive to the office.
We shared the same work ethic. She worked hard and long hours, was driven, and the company prospered. Camaraderie was good.
We drank coffee.
… and life continued on …
Fifty Something
We attended our sons’ games and worked on a school-district fundraiser together squeezing those things into a jam-packed work schedule. She was devoted to her family and devoted to the company.
Soon those sons were driving, then in college. They had grown from adolescents into men … overnight … or so it seemed.
Reflecting makes me smile: like when she drove me to work after my foot surgery for a week or two and I propped my foot on the dash, the time I dropped off breakfast burritos at her house on an early brisk Saturday morning in January for her birthday (I rang the doorbell and left before she could get to the door), and the times she treated me to lunch. And then I laugh when I remember the times she stood her ground, professionally speaking, and others scattered … Women Who Mean Business … that award certainly fit.
When my precious friend Cheryl died, I ran to her office and cried. She was full of compassion on many occasions – through death, divorce, and disaster. I am happy to call her friend.
She gave herself completely to the challenges before her. Throughout the years, I sensed the need to thank her, although I didn’t always know why. She must have had my back.
She switched from coffee to tea.
So on this day, as life changes, I have this to say: “Counselor, let the record show, you did well, the company is well, and you will be well. Yes, all is well.”
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV)
She did this.
And life continues on ….
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