One Wednesday November 5th, 2008 I went to work wearing a dark suit, white shirt and a black tie. I work in a business causal environment so seeing someone in a suit usually means one thing, they have an interview. I am not sure why but everyone always wants to be around you when you have an interview. Maybe because they want to know more about possible openings inside the company, perhaps it is because there is someone in the world ready to move on up and people want to be close to this new power broker, but probably it is because in the cubical world that we live in, it is just what people do.
Anyway, I came in wearing a suit and as I suspected it got some attention. I was asked where I was interviewing and with what group. I let them know the sad news that I was not interviewing but rather that the prior night I had lost a dear friend. Of course, the loss of friend is never an easy thing to deal with, no one is quite sure what to say and it is a sad moment to reflect on the mortality we all face.
I took this opportunity to share with my co-workers about my friend and his passing on that Tuesday night, November 4th, 2008. You see, my friend had not been doing well for a long time. He had been in this place before and had battle through many an adversity. While all the doctors were telling him he only had days or even hours to live my friend was never willing to quit. Like a brave soldier he would fight on.
I told those co-workers that we could learn a lot from watching my friend over the last few weeks. When life gives you lemons you can give them right back and say, “Hey, I did not ask for lemons! Give me the apples like I asked you stupid lemon giver!” My friend showed me that you should never give up, no matter what the doctors or experts might say. Keep striving, keep fighting, no matter how hard the road may be. This is what my friend taught us.
Even still, we were holding on to hope, hope that maybe, just maybe he could pull of another miracle like he had done before. However, it was not meant to be. You think that you are ready to hear such awful news; you know it is coming and you have prepared for it in your mind. Yet, nothing ever prepares you. This was how it was with news of my friends passing.
You see, on Tuesday night is when all the experts and doomsayers were proven right. He was slipping away. At 8:30 PM his Pennsylvania and Ohio started to fail him. Then at around 9:30 PM we heard that Indiana and Florida were not far behind. Then everything just started crashing all at once, his Colorado, New Mexico and California. Finally at 11:00 PM, he was gone. Rest in peace GOP, I trust that I will see you again.Similar Posts:
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© 2008, Michael Callaway. All rights reserved.
