Erin and the Gang(with a little help from Photoshop)
My co-worker Erin’s Mother passed away yesterday. Erin sits next to me in a four person cubicle at my work. She works on the company website doing everything from adding new products to creating company email newsletters. She has also helped me with putting my blog together. But Erin is more than just a person who I work with, I also consider her a friend.
Erin is a pretty diverse individual. In addition to the company website, Erin maintains her own website and blog, www.erinblackwell.com. (It’s on my favorite blogs and sites list in my sidebar) On her website/blog you can read about her many adventures with her husband, John, and the true loves of her life, her dogs. Both Erin and John are Disney geeks and you can’t be friends with Erin and not have some sort of Disney in your life.
Like me, Erin and John are both involved in local theater. Although I have never done a show with Erin, we do run in the same theater circles and do bump into each other from time to time. We have worked in shows with many of the same people so there’s a disconnected connection that we have, if that makes sense. And some day, I truly hope I can do a show with her (and John, too).
Erin has a very strong personality and sometimes that throws people off. Sitting next to her for quite some time now, I have come to see the value of this quality in her. Erin knows what she wants and she’s not afraid to voice it. She is a hard worker who hates to have her time wasted with petty actions and obtuse rules. She believes in fairness and is a loyal friend who will fiercely defend you. She is, for lack of better words, the genuine article.
Erin has had her share of grief in her life. Her father passed away when she was young. She had a miscarriage that put her in a spiraling depression. And now, her mother has passed away unexpectedly. Having dealt with the deaths of very close loved-ones, I realize that there are no words I can say to comfort her. I could spit out some platitude like, “Time heals all wounds,” but that won’t really help.
But time does help. Erin can take heart in the fact that her mother will be remembered because Erin has written about her so lovingly on her blog and website. And maybe she can find some comfort in knowing that her many friends have read her stories and felt that same warm love inside them. The Wizard of Oz said it best to the tin man, “A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others.” Erin’s mother certainly fell into that category. So does Erin and that’s her mother’s legacy.
Erin is a pretty diverse individual. In addition to the company website, Erin maintains her own website and blog, www.erinblackwell.com. (It’s on my favorite blogs and sites list in my sidebar) On her website/blog you can read about her many adventures with her husband, John, and the true loves of her life, her dogs. Both Erin and John are Disney geeks and you can’t be friends with Erin and not have some sort of Disney in your life.
Like me, Erin and John are both involved in local theater. Although I have never done a show with Erin, we do run in the same theater circles and do bump into each other from time to time. We have worked in shows with many of the same people so there’s a disconnected connection that we have, if that makes sense. And some day, I truly hope I can do a show with her (and John, too).
Erin has a very strong personality and sometimes that throws people off. Sitting next to her for quite some time now, I have come to see the value of this quality in her. Erin knows what she wants and she’s not afraid to voice it. She is a hard worker who hates to have her time wasted with petty actions and obtuse rules. She believes in fairness and is a loyal friend who will fiercely defend you. She is, for lack of better words, the genuine article.
Erin has had her share of grief in her life. Her father passed away when she was young. She had a miscarriage that put her in a spiraling depression. And now, her mother has passed away unexpectedly. Having dealt with the deaths of very close loved-ones, I realize that there are no words I can say to comfort her. I could spit out some platitude like, “Time heals all wounds,” but that won’t really help.
But time does help. Erin can take heart in the fact that her mother will be remembered because Erin has written about her so lovingly on her blog and website. And maybe she can find some comfort in knowing that her many friends have read her stories and felt that same warm love inside them. The Wizard of Oz said it best to the tin man, “A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others.” Erin’s mother certainly fell into that category. So does Erin and that’s her mother’s legacy.
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1 comment:
Preston, thank you so much. I can't believe you think this highly of me! And I'm taking everything you said about my mom and losing her to heart.
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