Oh, Happy Day

Yesterday, my boss and her husband and their little grandson traveled to Kansas City from Wichita for a special celebration in my honor at work (more on that later), and they took me out to lunch. One, that little boy is so stinking cute, I could just eat him up ... I'm telling you ... stinking, stinking cute. And two, while we were at lunch, I talked about some of the jobs I had down through the years. Jobs like working at a swimming pool store and cleaning rich people's pools in the summer. Jobs like working at a music store in the mall and the owner trying to teach me how to play the guitar (hopeless cause, by the way). Jobs like being a professor of Spanish and English at a college. Jobs like throwing newspapers on the weekends to earn extra money after my divorce. Jobs like ... well ... you get the picture. I've had a lot of jobs in my lifetime, some good, some not so good, and some just plain old terrible.

I've been at my current place of employment for 10 years ... it's hard for me to believe I've been there for 10 years; in many ways, it seems like just a short time since I first walked in the door for my initial interview. At the time, I worked for another advertising agency ... an agency that had recently lost its biggest client and hence had lost a lot of revenue. I could see the handwriting on the wall as I watched round after round of layoffs, and I knew that I had to make a change before a change was made for me. I also knew that I had three children at home to feed and clothe and provide a place to live. After interviewing for a couple of months or so, I had four different job offers to choose from ... two were corporate jobs, and two were back in the advertising field. And honestly, I really struggled with choosing which job to take ... I was skittish about going to work for another ad agency because I was all too aware of how volatile and unstable the advertising world could be, and I had three children who were depending on me. I warred with the decision for a couple of weeks, but I kept coming back to one thing ... the feeling I got when I walked in the building of my current employer. From the minute I set foot in the door, it felt like home. Ten years later, there's not the tiniest shred of doubt in my mind that I made the right choice ... not one tiny shred.

My official 10-year anniversary at work was on October 21, but there's a tradition in our office concerning "big" anniversaries ... 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, and so on. Those anniversaries aren't celebrated on the actual date, but rather they are celebrated randomly after they have occurred. Why? Because there's a surprise party for those milestone years, and if the party happened on the exact date, well, then, it wouldn't be much of a surprise, would it now? So, yesterday morning as we all met in the main conference room for our regular Friday morning meeting, I assumed it was just another Friday staff meeting. And it was, until the end. That's when one of the gals said she wanted to show us one of her daughter's YouTube video picks, which she often does, so again, I assumed that was exactly what she was doing. And guess what? I was very, very wrong.

The video opened with a shot of a door opening, and then I saw the baby bed ... the baby bed that I instantly recognized as C.J.'s, and I said out loud, "Oh, crap." And then the tears came ... lots and lots of tears as I watched C.J. having a tea party with four of her stuffed animals, four of her furry playmates each with a sign in its lap ... signs that read, "Happy 10th Anniversary Granny!" As I watched my precious little granddaughter playing with a silver teapot, I listened to my sweet daughter-in-law as she spoke. "Coraline, are you having tea time? Are you pouring some tea for Bear? Coraline, can you pour some tea for Granny?" C.J. jabbered and smiled and hammed it up big time for the camera. And then ... then Becca panned over to show the iPad set up with a picture me and C.J. together. And as she said, "Can you say happy anniversary to Granny? We're so proud of you, Granny!" C.J. noticed the iPad, smiled and began to crawl toward it. As C.J. got close to the iPad, I heard Becca say, "is that your Granny, Coraline? Is that Granny?" And then ... then ... then ... C.J. pulled up on her knees, reached out and touched my face on the screen ... that baby touched my face on the screen. And yes, I was bawling ... good grief, people, of course I was bawling. Becca then told C.J. to wave bye-bye, and since she's a genius baby (yes, yes, yes she is), she waved bye-bye like a big girl.

Another part of the tradition of celebrating our milestone anniversaries is that we receive a cash award based on our number of years of employment, and another gift that usually has something to do with the person's likes or hobbies or interests outside of work, both of which are paid by the company. As soon as the video ended, some of the gals brought out a huge container filled to overflowing with doggie items ... toys, blankets, treats ... you name it, the tub was literally overflowing with doggie things. One of the gals then said that since everyone knew that I have a heart for dogs who've been abused, folks in the office had given all the items and they were donating them to Safe Harbor Prison Dogs, the organization who rescued my little Oliver. Yeah, if I hadn't already been crying my eyes out, that would have done it for sure. All I can say is ... wow ... just wow, wow, wow. What an amazingly awesomely totally cool thing for my friends at work to do ... wow, wow, wow.

Those of you who read along with me as I chronicle my journey through life in this blog know that the last couple of years have been really tough ones, and the last couple of months have been among the hardest I've ever experienced. Happy days have been rather elusive for me to say the least ... but yesterday ... yesterday was indeed a happy, happy day. Yesterday was a day when I realized how very blessed I am ... blessed to have a wonderful job with a wonderful company, yes, but so much more blessed by the family within it ... family who looks after each other, family who gives from their hearts, family who accepts and supports and loves and encourages and believes and cares. I've said it countless times, and I pray that I continue to have the opportunity to say it again and again ... we're family ... we're family in all the ways that matter most. 

Thanks for yesterday, guys ... for the party and the video and the donations ... but most of all, thanks for the love. You sheephaters totally rock!!!