Today, I was truly moved. At 1 pm this afternoon, my place of employment had a retirement party for an employee who had worked there for 27 years. She is 79 years old.
I had worked with this woman for the past year since I had been there. Every day, she comes in with a smile on her face. Sometimes she is a bit talkative, which I admit was a true challenge for me---since when I am on task I am not the one who likes to put things on hold and have a conversation with another person. This is a flaw within myself. But with her, it didn't seem to matter-I knew I needed to be patient because I had so much to learn.
The amazing thing is that this woman was not retiring at 79 because she wanted to. She retired at 79 because she had to-her MS has progressed to a point that made it difficult for her to come to work everyday. She had promised herself that she would make it to 83 before retiring.
I can only hope that in my own life I am that active, and that caring. For 30 years this woman worked as a public school teacher---and for 30 more at the MS Society--all the while developing curriculum and helping people with MS meet their basic needs.
This woman has a true circle of friends. Her neighbors drive her places, help her clean her home, care for her pets. I guess the saying holds true here---what goes around comes around.
I don't feel like I can explain my own emotion around this event in a just fashion---I was truly moved to the point of tears when she was walking out of the office. Everyone lined up in a processional style to say goodbye. We all hugged. We said goodbye.
But thankfully, she will be back...but unfortunately, she will no longer grace us with her presence everyday. I will miss the stories of how things used to be...her wisdom, her grace, her smile. But, her commitment to helping others lives on through all of us, and so we will continue to do the best we can.
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