As I mentioned yesterday, our weekend was full of Father's Day funtivities, as I'm sure was the case for many families in the USofA. I couldn't help but think about my co-worker Maria* yesterday. When I first started at the law firm, Maria was on vacation for a few weeks because her hubby had returned from being deployed and I guess she wanted to hang out with him or something. He's in the military for the USofA. (I'm sure I didn't need to notate that since you probably guessed it wasn't the Russian military or the Chinese military, but I just wanted to say "USofA" again. And that makes three times now, so I'm done. 😜) I only heard awesome things about Maria whenever she would come up during those initial 3-4 weeks of learning the ropes of the law firm.
"Maria is AWESOME! You will love her!"
"Maria is so fun!"
And my favorite: "Maria is like a human version of a cracked-out fire ant. She's always racing around here doing something or another for the attorneys and she knows everything. You're going to love her when you meet her!"
So needless to say, I was excited to meet Maria. And when I did - everything I'd heard about her held up x 10! She has more energy than someone pounding 3-hour Energy's one after the other and she keeps a sense of humor and a good attitude in all that. She's also the sole creator and member of our Party-Planning Committee and always produces.
I've had the joy of experiencing Maria's awesomeness and laughing a lot with her over the past 2 years, but she went and got herself knocked up late last year (for the second time...keep your legs together, MARIA!) and left the workplace for an undetermined maternity leave in late January. The office just hasn't been the same since the morale of Maria has departed.
Then we all received news in early April that Maria's father had an unexpected heart attack and suddenly passed away. It weighed heavy on my heart and mind that day and those following, and I just felt so bad for her. Maria can't be more than a few years older than me - 33 or 34 - and I just couldn't believe it. All her and her hubby's family live in Virginia, and from what I've heard, she's flown back there and may be spending a lot of time there until they can bury him at Arlington National Cemetery in September. (apparently there's quite a long wait to be buried there)
Maria crossed my mind yesterday after I got to hang out with my awesome dad at lunch and Nathan's awesome dad the two days prior. I know I'm going to be devastated when both of those awesome dudes** leave this amazing earth, but I just can't even imagine that right now, at the ripe young age of 29 and 11 months. Seriously, I'm going to be a wreck if I'm 60, and I pray it's not a day sooner than that.
I thought about texting Maria, and then I thought about not texting for fear of ripping the band-aid off a really fresh wound. But then I remembered reading once, in one of Shauna's books (probably Bittersweet), that when you don't know what to say, you should say something. Even if it's "I don't know what to say." So I texted Maria a funny work story, and then at the end, I let her know in just a few words that I hope today didn't suck too much. She loved the work story and laughed via few texts back. I don't know if it meant anything to her, but I just thought that someone so awesome should not have a suck-tastic day.
I hope if you've read this and you've had a really crummy Monday, this helped it not be as crummy. And if you've had an amazing one - I'm sorry I just became your Debbie Downer.
**my dad LOATHES the word 'dude' and can't stand being called it (in jest, of course...we're not brave enough to venture down that road in a heated argument for fear of getting our a$$ ripped apart.) So that's for you, Papa Roach! 😋
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