Over the weekend, a work colleague of mine passed away, inexplicably. She wasn’t much older than I was. I saw her on Monday from afar, as I no longer sit right next to her like I used to before my promotion. Apparently, she left early, citing that she wasn’t feeling well; and nothing more was thought of it, because the seasonal flu was very much on our floor, and numerous people had already succumbed to it, and were either already called in sick, or were leaving early.
Little did I realize that it would be the last time I would ever see her. It’s frightening to think of life being as fragile as that. As we were primarily co-workers, there’s only so much that I really knew of her, but I never knew if she would have any health issues to where the flu or byproducts of the flu could actually become lethal.
But aside from being “just” co-workers, this was a person that I probably would have considered my closest confidant at work. I don’t fraternize with my peers a tremendous amount, and especially now that I’m in management, I didn’t necessarily always feel that it was that appropriate, so it somewhat of a big deal that she and I were as candid and frank with each other in our own hushed conversations throughout the work days.
When I was still an artist, she was my coordinator, and we had a working relationship that was just about the epitome of a well-oiled machine. We came into our departments at relatively the same time, and each went through our series of lumps learning said departments, and the first year of working together was bumpy at first, but solely in work process, and not personally. She was an extremely hard and diligent worker who chose to be in our department, whereas I was assigned to it; she wanted the challenge of dealing with a complex department, while I just liked having a job.
She was the type to work her ass off to make sure my job was easier, and often times did, working weekends, and staying in the office long after I left each day. But when I got wind of the fact that she was coming in on weekends, I found such to be unacceptable, because I didn’t ever feel it was appropriate for someone to sacrifice their weekends on my account. Eventually, I got my process down to a science to where I made it an absolute point to get my side of the page-building process done as quick and accurately as possible, so that she didn’t have to work weekends.
If the schedule said due Friday, that just meant that I had to have it done by EOD; it didn’t account for the fact that the coordinator still has to proof and review it before sending it out for management review. So to me, due Friday meant due Thursday, or sooner if possible, because it was important for me to consider her time as much as she was considering mine. Eventually, by us being mindful of the other, our process matured into this highly-efficient and well-oiled machine that took the hardest and most complex department and put us on par of efficiency to that of departments that weren’t nearly as difficult.
But that’s the kind of relationship we had, and that’s the kind of person that she was. Always thinking of others, and always willing to take on more work in the name of optimal efficiency for the greater good of the team.
And that’s the kind of a person my team has lost, which a devastating blow to us as a team, the company, and frankly the world.
As sad as it is that a good person I admired and respected tremendously, I’m not a complete wreck. This isn’t to say that I shed no tears over loss, because I mostly definitely have, but I feel like I’m in this weird position of trying to hold it together for the sake of those I work with, but coming off like an emotional mute in the process.
The thing is, this all happened so suddenly and out of the blue, that ultimately, I just want to remind everyone in the world that life really is capable of being this fleeting. And I’m not saying we should all suddenly be super sensitive and protective over those who sneeze or show signs of common illnesses, but at the same time, would it be so bad to not have well wishes for anyone that’s short of optimal health?
Happy trails, RM; at least you don’t have to deal with our favorite lake in Italy anymore.
