I can hardly believe that it’s June 20th already. I have been gone most of the month on job-related travel. I have a conference and 2 more meetings in the next 4 weeks, then things should settle down for awhile.
On my way home from my last meeting in Phoenix, an old friend and co-worker who I haven’t seen in nearly 10 years walked up to me in the airport and said, “Are you Cheryl?” I recognized her immediately, in fact I had actually been thinking of her not long ago. It was Sue. She and her husband, Dan, were headed up to Seattle on the same plane. They were continuing on to Anchorage where they both grew up and met.
We talked there in the Phoenix airport while waiting to board and then somehow managed to chat for most of the flight with poor Sue in the aisle most of the time taking abuse from the harried flight attendants. Fortunately I had a seat right behind first class, so this was actually possible.
We met probably 20 years ago when we were both contract draftswomen. We both got contracted to Burlington Northern in Seattle to update their technical manuals with drawings of track layouts. An interesting assignment for someone trained in architectural drafting for sure!
We worked on the 24th (or something like that) floor of a well-known bank building (the bank no longer exists and I’m completely blocking out the name). In the morning we sat with our lattes and muffins and watched the sun rise over Mt. Rainier and Puget Sound. The view was amazing. I think we worked there about 8 months.
As we were catching up we were reminiscing about where each of us worked after that and if we ever actually worked together again. We realized we didn’t, but we did maintain a friendship and contact for many years after we worked together.
We discovered that we both worked for Metro in the engineering department. I said, “Did you work with Rich?” Sue said, “no” I said, “we drew drawings of pump stations,” and she said, “so did I! I worked for Les Race.” I said, “He was my boss, too!”
I remember Les. He was a good boss, I worked for him for a little over a year. Every Friday he brought donuts in.
Anyway, Sue went on to ask, “Do you know how Les died?” I told her I didn’t. Turns out he died in 1993 about 2 months before his retirement. He had a heart attack while waiting for the bus. When the bus pulled up that morning he was there but no longer alive.
I don’t know how old he was, probably around 60. None of us can predict when we’re going to die and we can’t be afraid of it (what’s the point?). Besides, everything I hear about dying doesn’t sound so bad.
But, there are things I really want to do yet on this earth that don’t involve competing with my current job for attention. But I am also aware that I cannot put off what is important to me while I’m waiting to retire. I must live in the now, it’s the only time any of us have.
I know I won’t be retiring with a full retirement fund. I know I’ll have to do something to augment the small amount I will be bringing in. But I have a feeling that I’m going to be having a lot more fun bringing in the bucks in a year from now than I am now.
It’s such a strong feeling, I know it to be true.
