Saying Good-bye: Part 2

Today was my last official day of work. (I say "official" because I plan to go in tomorrow to tie up as many loose ends as I can.) The ride in on the T was uneventful and it didn't hit me until I was walking towards our office building that it was my very last ride to work in Boston. I was saddened knowing that my weekday morning routine of 5 years was going to change dramatically: a different route to work at a different office building in a different city in a different country. When I finally reached the office, I was alone. I walked around and took in each office, the conference room, even the supply closet at the back of the office. I had lived 40 hours of each week for 4 years with the people who occupy those offices and I handled many of the files which are crammed in so many of those shelves and file cabinets.

The rest of the morning, like most of my days this week, involved me running around like a chicken with its head cut off. It seemed as though my "To Do" list never got shorter and even though I'd check one thing off, 3 more items were added on. In all the urgency of completing my work, I had no time to get sentimental.

When noon came around, my employers took everyone out for a "good-bye" lunch. We shared a meal at the Hilton Hotel restaurant and I felt extremely under-dressed in my jeans among the many suits who ate there. After lunch, my employers presented me with some gifts: a paperweight with a painting of Boston Common; a children's book on Boston for Makayla; and a commerative Boston plate that pictured the Swan rides at the Boston Gardens. I was grateful for their gifts and their expression of appreciation for all the work I have done for them. Still, I was too preoccupied with thoughts of all the work that waited for me at the office that I could not get sentimental.

As the work day ended and co-workers wished me luck as they left for the weekend, I was still too busy with my work to realize that it probably was the last time I would ever see them again. Even after my employers, on their way out, told me how much they appreciated my work and how much they would miss me, I still couldn't feel anything. Work still needed to get done and phone calls still needed to be returned.

Finally, after a long week of seemingly non-stop working, after packing up the last of my personal items, after gathering up all my gifts, I walked out of the office building and cried. It finally hit me that I have closed the door on a significant chapter of my life and that door will never be opened again.

I will miss my weekday morning T ride to that office building in Boston. I will miss walking up 9 flights of stairs (elevators scare me!) to our suite. I will miss my office, the one with the view of Boston all the way to the Tobin bridge. I will miss my co-workers, even the ones I merely say "hi" to and nothing more. I will miss my employers, two men who taught me what it means to be a good boss. I will miss working at an office where I know I was needed and sincerely appreciated.

Another set of good-byes have been said and the most difficult one is yet to come.

Let's Focus on the Positive

Keeping up with the mainstream news online is a habit I wish to break. I mindlessly log onto to Google News and Boston.com and am usually met with horrible stories about the seemingly endless turmoil in the Middle East; mothers killing their babies; children being kidnapped, raped and murdered; students killing their classmates and professors; so-called celebrities spewing words of hate or displaying utter disregard for the lives of others; global warming and the obesity epidemic, etc. The list is sadly long. A part of me wants to keep informed but another part of me wishes I could forget all the things I have read that display the worst of humanity.

A quick search online lead me to this website. It's a site that promises "Real News. Compelling Stories. Always Positive." And that's what we need: a little distraction from all the negative news we see on a daily basis - from TV, the internet, even the free newspapers that are scattered on the T each workday morning. We need some happy news to remind us that humanity is not evil undiluted. We need to counterbalance all the sad news with stories of people who have made positive contributions to society, of people helping strangers, of children being saved, loved and protected. I'm tired of news that causes me to worry for the future of humanity; bring on the news that gives me hope of its survival.

Pushing the Limits

Runners pounding the pavement during the 111th Annual Boston Marathon

Despite living in Boston for the past 5 years, I haven't had the time or opportunity to watch the Boston Marathon live and in person. I'm usually at work on Patriots' Day but, for one reason or another, my boss decided to give us the day off.

Watching the Boston Marathon on TV inspires me to work towards a more physically active lifestyle. Some may consider me to have an already physically active lifestyle - I work out at least 4 times weekly for at least an hour each session - but I have yet to reach my peak level of physical fitness. I can run at a 6 mile per hour pace for 10 minutes nonstop but, after that, I usually need to slow down to a 4 mile per hour walking pace to catch my breath.

Running the Boston Marathon - or any marathon, for that matter - has always been one item on my life "to do" list. These marathon runners - arms pumping, muscled legs and sweaty torsos - demonstrate self-discipline and hard work at its best. They show us the ever-expanding limits we face when we push our bodies hard enough towards an almost impossible goal.

I hope to run at least one marathon someday. Watching the Boston Marathon has inspired me to start towards that goal today.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
-Robert Frost

I received a phone call from a dear college friend of mine. We hadn't spoken on the phone in a long while but I often think of her and our other college friends. As old friends often do, we started reminiscing about our days in college: the dorms, the cafeteria, staying up late talking about classes, classmates and, of course, college boys. While we both agreed that those years were some of the best years of our lives, she felt that we had sheltered ourselves too much at the expense of fully experiencing "life."

I agree that we were quite naive, extremely so compared to other people in their early 20s now and at that time. We knew very little about the opposite sex, relationships, or how evil people could be. We lived our lives sheltered but we lived it through eyes of innocence and the ability to see only the good in everyone. We were far more childlike than our peers in our perceptions of the world around us. I often wish I still had that kind of naivete and innocence.

I cannot deny, however, that she was right about not taking enough risks, especially at a time in our lives when risk-taking should have been part and parcel of our newfound independence. I agree that we should have come out of our shells and met more people, gone out on more dates and declared our affections to our secret crushes. At the same time, if I had taken those risks, my life would be very different today. I probably would have lost my naivete and become jaded earlier than I did. Worst of all, I would not have met my dear husband and I would never have known my precious Makayla. In that sense, I do not regret taking certain risks or not going down certain paths. I know that what I have now is far better than anything I could have had if I had not taken the road less traveled.

Baby-adult translations

Baby says: Happy smiles.
She means: Smiley faces.

Baby says: Hot air balloon.
She means: Mylar balloon.

Baby says: I hurt my pants.
She means: I fell and got my pants dirty.

Baby says: I want play in ocean.
She means: I want to take a bath/play in the bath.

Baby says: I want to find the mouse.
She means: I want to read "Goodnight Moon."

Baby says: I la you.
She means: I love you.