This afternoon I got a call informing me that my Assistant was dead. She was 62. I was told by the Police Department. They are not sure when or how she died. She was on vacation this week and was due in Monday.
Geneva Sue Pickett was a good friend, a die hard employee, and one of the most generous women I have known. She volunteered regularly and was a company girl all the way. She enriched my life, improved the quality of each day, and made me laugh so hard that I peed my pants every single day that I knew her.
To say that I will miss her is like saying the sky is blue. Currently the only thing bluer than the sky is me. I was informed rather abruptly and unexpectedly and it has not fully sunk in. I then had the task of informing thousands of people while trying to maintain a brave face for the kids.
She was at my side, generally trailing two or three steps behind me. I walk fast and have long legs. She was generally taking notes and scrambling along behind me from building to building and ready and willing to follow me off the face of the Earth if that's where I was going.
I had many names for Sue. I called her Myrtle, Mable, Edna, Ethel, Pickett, Pickie, SueSue and I called her often. She was my enforcer and made my daily efforts possible by screening hundreds of calls and putting out forest fires for me all day long and covering 64 acres of chaos. She paid bills, placed orders, met with vendors, and rode shotgun along side of me from the minute she walked in each morning until she decided to leave at the end of the day.
Sue could never find her glasses but generally had two pairs on her head while she looked for them. She would put people on hold after she hung up the phone. She could outwit any computer with her cunning and crafty ways and would always win any battle she had with them. They would submit, smoke, and then crash. They could not keep up with Pickett. She was just too sly for technology. The more buttons you punch in the shortest amount of time gets the job done.
She was the Senior Women's wear buyer for a very posh chain of Southern Department Stores for 30 years and lived, for the most part a very priviledged life. But in her lifetime she got more out of working with sick people and sick kids then she ever got out of going to lavish parties, fashion shows, and trips abroad. She was presented an award last year for her numerous hours volunterring at the Monroe Carell Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. He died last week of cancer and was a good friend of hers.
If I couldn't find her I need only head out to the employee smoking area and would most certainly find her enjoying a conversation with a patient or a co-worker. Since smoking will be banned in two months throughout the campus we had many discussions about how she would quit. I knew I would be chasing her out of stairwells or find her spraying air freshener under her desk as smoke billowed by.
So at this time I have no idea how or when she died. I made arrangements with her family to start the process of insurance and 401K stuff because they will of course have to make plans. They were on a family vacation and she decided to stay home with the dog so it didn't have to go to a kennel. Her nephew came home early for a business meeting but everyone else was in Florida. Her niece called me and we talked for a bit but we had both just had our worlds pulled out from under us. They were all in the car on the way home and had no better idea than I did what happened.
My world will be considerably less funny, much more chaotic, and empty in a way that nobody else will ever fill. I will miss the smell of her blueberry muffin in the microwave. I will miss her answering the phone with the receiver upside down. I will miss the odd calls at all hours of the day and night. But most of all I will miss her friendship and loyalty.
There isn't enough time left in my own life to tell all the stories. But in her little niece Sarah will live the little bit of devil Sue left for us all to enjoy. She brought great joy to Sue Sue and her stories about Sarah made me laugh out loud every Monday morning.
A funny and recent memory was when her female co-workers tried to talk her into getting her set up on Match.com. The plan was that when she went on a date we would meet her there and sit at tables in close proximity in case any "funny business" was going to happen. We almost talked her into it.
I am grieving Sue. I will never forget you and will miss you every day. You were a hoot and you were a true humanitarian. Kevin was going to come and get me when I called him but I didn't want to let you down. The kids in the Gift Shop refused to close because they didn't want to let you down either.
I remember when you told me never to worry about you having a heart attack because you were missing a key ingredient. A heart. But I think I'll find out in the next day or so that you had one and it was so big and so full that it just couldn't take the strain from it's own size any longer.
It looks like Marian is going to have to get a "noogie" every morning since you won't be there. I went in the Chapel to get away from everything and Eddie came in to sit with me. I think he must have been trying to keep the lightning from striking by me being in there but I knew you would approve. Maybe I'll pop in again if you promise to come see me when I'm there. I'll call Victoria and Keesha later on if I can. Usually you do all this stuff for me so I'll have to figure out how to do all this stuff.
Beauty is where you find it.
Life is what you make of it.
Another week comes to a close and the joy of outdoor living and long languid strolls,
smells of summer foods, sounds of laughter and glee fill the air. I look everywhere for beauty but
oftentimes I don't have to look far. It's really all around and makes no effort to hide from me. If I don't
find it then it will find me. It does a pretty good job of keeping me happy. I hope you are as well.
Today our electricty went off and we had no idea why. The bill was paid,lol. The neighbors in general had power. Maybe a few behind that we couldn't see. So when they came to check it out it seems a squirrel crawled into the transformer and was electrocuted. The transformer blew and the wee one was killed. I thought about how my backyard gang would feel. Would I see a difference in the behavior of the "others"? I'll see. There are many squirrels and I wondered how many times I had seen this little guy. I wondered what made him go into the box. I wondered what the other squirrels were thinking and if they really knew he was dead. I will be able to tell by their behavior. They visit me each day and I can tell their moods by their visits. It was clearly not the Squabbit. It had a big poofy tail and the Squabbit does not. Poor little thing. What an awful way to go.
This week I get my inheritance from my parents and it comes at a very good time. The economy is in the toilet and the best time to have money is when nobody else does. Mom and dad are still taking care of me. The net is still beneath my tightrope and there should be much less fear of financial insecurity and instability.
I hope you all are well. We are here..........................................X
amphitheater
But we're too old too be able to handle that mess,lol!
Friday couldn't get here soon enough.
Be advised that non-Democratic voters are swarming the blogs and riling Clinton supporters disguised as Obama supporters. They are trying their hardest to continue dividing the Democratic Party by claiming to be Obama supporters and irritating "Big Mouths" like me. I have been getting e-mails and responses to my posts making rude statements about Hillary. I never delete anything but because this is tactical on their part I am deleting them so as not to enflame other voters.
The method is to find Clinton supporters and make rude and sexist comments about Senator Clinton in the hopes of turning us into McCain supporters. Because I am very vocal and use the same name on many, many politically oriented blogs I have been targetted pretty hard. They create accounts, smear Senator Clinton and then delete their accounts. At this point it does Obama supporters no good whatsoever to do this. I have been warned by other bloggers that they too are being targetted.
Be advised. Spread the word to people you know that have supported Hillary Clinton to not let this affect them. It is totally tactical.
It should be very clear to Obama supporters by now that they need the Clinton votes to win the General Election so it is quite obvious that this is coming from the other team. I don't believe that Senator McCain would approve. I am quite sure he has no idea it is going on. It's just not his style. Like him or hate him he is not a dishonest or dirty person and has generally maintained more high ground than most other Political candidates. He hasn't been a dirty player before and I don't see it as his way of doing things even if I don't agree with things he stands for.
GUYUSA is one such person. If you get comments from people and their picture is blacked out and their account is deleted the same day it is opened twice you know something fishy is going on.
These are some of the big construction projects at work. Daniel is being built into a high powered financier. Darius is being converted into an Athletics Manager. Jazz is doing an internship as an on-air Sportscaster and being molded into a National Sports Reporter. Katrina is going into Pediatrics and would like to be a Midwife. April is in research and currently trying to find a cure for Breast Cancer. The Medical Center is adding another 140 bed tower over our Emergency Room. Me....well, I guess I'm in construction. These bright and shining faces are being brought to you by Vanderbilt Medical Center and the future looks bright from where I sit. I don't worry about the future. I just can't wait for it to get here.
I took Clifford down to our Children's Hospital to visit a sick little fella. We got there just before he went in for surgery and boy was this little guy excited. His family was very happy. I was really emotional. Clifford was more than just a Big Red Dog to me. He did something that no medical procedure ever could do. He gave this little boy more joy in 10 minutes than he has had in his whole life. He thought is was just for him but the rest of us got as much as he did out of it.
My two kids started their mentoring today. Funny and smart kids and I have to drag them around all summer. Darius and Darius. Last year I had Darius ( a different one) Note to self: Name your kid Darius and his life is going to be in for some trouble. I think to myself that these kids must be in real trouble if they are going to stick them with me for an upgrade,lol.
So now I have an MBA, a Molecular Biologist, the Marching Band leader, A pre-med student and two "at-risk" youths to follow me around all summer and I can't help but think that I'll be the one learning something. What richness I get from all these visitors to my life. How thankful I am to have fallen into a job that is more of an education than work. Plus I get paid for it. So if I have two Darius' does that mean I have Dariai? TJ starts as soon as summer school is over. His mom's boyfriend got out of jail last week. Vince Gill is sponsoring one Darius for college. I am certain he will go on to be a brilliant young man with a bright future. Darius II is perhaps not quite as polished but a funny and warm kid. TJ spent last summer with me and wants to be a Police Officer. He told me he can spot a criminal from a mile away. I bet he has seen enough of them to spot them from two miles away. I arranged a "shadowing" so he'll get to ride around in a squad car one day a week for the next 12 weeks. God help us all.
Daniel will work at the Credit Union, CJ will work at the Pharmacy, Darius I is moving over to Sports Medicine, and Darius II is going to the Plumbing Shop. AJ will work again in the Heart Clinic and TJ will be my humble servant when he isn't collaring criminals. I figured out a long time ago that the best way I can mentor these kids is to hand them off lovingly to somebody else after easing them into "Institutional" life. I break their spirit, teach them manners, and then send them off to do things they show an interest in. I still hear from my success stories and remind them that I am really their success story. Last year I did a post about Victoria, a former student who pulled up in front of my house in her brand new car on her way to college. She just finished her first year and is staying in Chatanooga to work this summer. I am very proud of her.
Our niece Genna celebrated her 20th birthday and that means that Miss Jessie has no more teen aged grandkids. I got a kick out of her e-mail tonight telling Grandma that everybody wrote to her complaining about how old we are all getting. I love the picture of her standing in front of the Parthenon because Nashville has the only exact replica of it in the world with the huge statue of Athena inside the temple portion. I should get her to wear the same outfit and stand her in front of ours and do a side by side of them both.
So it's been a typical southern week here with temperatures soaring and humidity at the same level. I love when the heat pushes the world into sleepy, peaceful mode. The feet shuffle slowly. The talk is always of the heat with a reminder that most of us would take the heat over the cold any day.
The sounds and smells of summer hover overhead and swirl around like a swarm of pleasant remembrances. When I smell the smoke from the grill or hear the Cardinals chirping in the sprinkler I am transported back to gentle easy times and carefree days gone by.
Each night this week we have heard and smelled fireworks from the CMA Music Festival going on all this week and ending tonight. It is truly one of the largest music festivals and features all of Nashville's favorite sons and daughters. I happen to love country music. I listen to nothing else for the most part. I mean, why be here and not be a part of the local color and culture. Why would I want to live some place as an outsider? There are more Platinum selling artists in country than just about any other category of music and this is the home of it. When they celebrate here it is a big deal and a thank you to the fans. It has been called Fan Fare for decades but somehow they changed the name for sponsorship reasons I guess. We all still call it Fan Fare. They all gather at tons of different venues including the downtown Honky Tonks with surprise visits to where they all got their starts. Big stadium concerts, autograph opportunities for the die hard fans. I just love every bit of it. I love living in a tourist destination and with gas the way it is and money short for most we will see a larger influx into Music City USA/ NashVegas.
Nothing takes me away more than spending the day in my gardens. Food. Flowers. It is my "cold beer" and keeps me interested in participating in my own life. The summer foods, the naps after wards. Yeah, I love the south and I have lived everywhere in this country. I'm here because this is where I picked to settle in and grow old. I love country people. I enjoy sitting on my porch and talking to everybody who walks by. I love the banter at each store I visit. I love how willing people are to just stop whatever they are doing and visit. If you ever want to feel at ease and comforted listen to a light hearted conversation between people with the heaviest accents you may possibly ever hear. If they were on TV they may have to use subtitles. But I love that and I love the easy ways of a gentle and beautiful people.
I bought a new sprinkler and can sit out front and move it and wait for people to come up the sidewalk and tell me how beautiful my lillies are. I can offer a cold drink to heated passers by and catch up on what is going on in the neighborhood.
I went to Goodwill yesterday and found a big folder of old painting and prints, and etchings and I spent a few hours last night framing several. My favorite is an old advertising hand painted store sign advertising tea with a hand painted woman with a tray and very beautiful hand painted lettering. Funny thing though. This was the backing board for another picture and I threw it away and am going to frame the backing board. I got a hand painted etching of a black lab and it will certainly be hung above Gully's remains as a constant reminder of my sick heart and the emptiness I feel sometimes at the loss of my companion. Four new Remington Cowboy etchings now grace our family room. I simply put them in the frames already hung right over the existing pictures. Huge upgrade. Two beautiful paintings were framed first. One for our bedroom and the other for our gallery out side of our bedroom. We have a large seating area/library outside of our bedroom with only original paintings. The one I got yesterday was of daffodils in a large porcelain jug with a German painting on it. I bought a lampshade, several shaker bottles (to contain my dried herbs for the winter) and about 30 pieces of stunning artwork for $3.28. It wasn't the Declaration of Independence or a missing master work. But I am invigorated in my hunt for rough diamonds to harvest.
I will putter today. Perhaps some window shopping. We have talked about getting an old chrome Airstream trailer to use as a guest quarters in the back yard. I have been browsing Kayaks and a few other things to make the summer more enjoyable. But mostly we are still trying to live differently without Gully. We weren't used to being able to do things because we have been chained to home for so long. Tater gets her leash and barks and barks and barks until we take her to the park. She demands Ice cream and Peanut Butter Cups. We comply totally and spoil her for her service as a companion and protector. She walks off the extra calories and spends the bulk of the day laying in front of the air conditioner. If Kevin sits in her chair she whines until he gets up. Even if she doesn't want to sit in it. We keep her bowl out in the open and she scolds the cats whenever they pass by. The kitties lay high and quiet in the heat. They actually lay in scorching windows and bask for hours on end, preferring the blazing furnace to even a tiny breeze.
Today I will buy a big potted fern or plant of some sort for my bedroom. We take a carafe of water up with us each night but with no plants we have to carry the balance downstairs and empty it. Last year we simply doused the potted plants with it prior to carrying it downstairs. I have a beautiful Majolica Jardinierre that is from the 1900's that is screaming to live out it's purpose and hold a beautiful plant to brighten up a bedroom corner. I have my Grandma's Roseville pot on my dresser that my cousin Anne found in one of her first houses under the sink. My grandma had it for so many years and somebody just left it when they moved. They would kick themselves in the ass if they knew what they left behind. It reminds me of my grandma and is therefore beyond priceless to me. Funny old bird. I loved her. I can see it sitting on a plant stand at her farm way back in the 70's when I would spend the summer up there near the Canadian border.
I am home. Walk by and share a glass of sweet tea and a few stories. If you want to stay for dinner I'll have Kevin pull another pork chop out for grilling. There will be salad and cornbread of course and there will be peace. Kevin will either be in the kitchen or at the computer. He doesn't talk much but he's still easy company. Relax. It's summertime.
Go to Truthteller's Vox for instructions on how to call the DNC and request your own delegate. I understand that one of the requirements is that you are not on the ballot. Denver is great that time of the year. They seem to have extra ones. They gave a bunch out yesterday to somebody who wasn't on the ballot.
Call ealry because the phones will be busy, I guarantee you.
Coming to your breakfast table monday morning. Here's a little something else for your breakfast......
I wonder if he'll toss her under the bus with Grandma and the Reverend, and now his church. It's getting crowded under there. I haven't seen it yet but I know several national blogger's that have copies. It won't be coming from Hillary either so you can keep your race baiting imaginations to yourselves. I am sure somehow her racial eruption will be blamed on Hillary. After all she has caused Global Warming, Islamo fascism, and of course the Heartbreak of Psoriasis.
Go easy on her Barack. She did have your children. But your Grandma raised you and it didn't stop you from using her. Remember, she's the lady that nice Pastor married you to? Instead of Jackie O's pearls it looks like Michelle will be given a piece of duct tape as a fashion accessory. I can't wait to hear you all defend it. Yes you can....but it isn't working any more. Something stinks very badly. It's the kind of stink that doesn't wash off.
