Thursday, September 25, 2008

A Great Surprise

I have been so damn busy, (or is it lazy?) and stressed out this Summer that all the endless information whirling through this old head couldn't figure itself out enough to even type a few meaningless words on this blog. Well...Fall is here and I am ready to dig a little deeper into the cobweb covered archives of my memories and babble a little more often on this site.

Today brought back memories of people, places and memories from the late seventies and on into the eighties. Last night I found out that Suz's, (my dearest friend ever) Mom Florene had passed away. She was also very dear to me having lived with Suz for about 15 years of our thirty + year friendship. So today when I went to work I was feeling sad and nostalgic but trying not to let it show. Several different issues at the job were testing my sense of humor causing me to be a bit of a beeotch, if you get my drift. I had to offer apologies for my bad behavior to at least two people before 10 AM, for gawd sake! My still raw feelings of loss from Suz' death in April were brought to the surface with the news of Florene's passing and I didn't have the patience to listen to other people's sad stories, along with several business related issues which needed my attention. All I wanted to do was lock myself alone in my office and cry my eyes out. It was MY day to have a pity party for myself. My secretary, who can read me like a book, chastised me gently and kept me on track. Thank you, Sherry! However, it was hard to elevate my mood much.

Just before noon, I was standing at Sherry's desk, signing some papers, when I noticed two women coming toward me. As I looked, my eyes opened in astonishment, a look mirrored in the eyes of one of these women. Almost in unison, we each said, "Oh, my god! What are YOU doing here!" as we ran toward each other, coming together in a long and affectionate hug. It was Shannon Waters Newhouse, whom I had worked with for many years at Buttrey Foods in Boise. She was a beautiful, air- headed eighteen year old when I first met her and I loved her immediately. Today, she is the mother of college kids and still beautiful. We were so excited and happy to see each other, chattering and catching up, that twenty minutes had passed before I had the sense to ask her what she was doing in my store. As it turned out, she is the Sales Manager (16 years) for the Idaho Lottery Commission, and was there to tell me about a new lottery machine that will be installed in the store in a couple of weeks. OMG! It was so good to see her! We chatted for a little while longer, exchanged phone numbers and promised to get together on my next trip to Boise. She plans to have a get together with other former co-workers who I haven't seen in years. It was hard for both of us to say goodbye and get on with our respective jobs. She will be back when the Lottery machine is installed to train us on it's operation. We plan to have lunch that day. I can hardly wait. There is so much of our lives to catch up on. I swear she was sent by an Angel just to elevate my mood to a feeling of joy, and to remind me....

LIFE IS INDEED GOOD!

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