Reconnections & Appreciation

The other day, I thought of a friend, a former co-worker with whom I had lost touch. She has an unusual name, so I just googled it and sure enough, there she was. I knew it was her because she is now working for a company with which we'd both had contact. I looked a little deeper at some the online material available and I found her email address. I fired off a quick 'hello, how ya doin' and she answered back the same day. We've talked on the phone and traded a couple of emails since then.

I told her about this blog and gave her the link. I don't know if she's looked at it, but the next email I received from her said she was sorry that life has been so hard for me. That was very nice of her to say, but it sort of brought me to my senses. Here is a person that hasn't heard from me for four or five years and she sees all this moaning and groaning on this blog and figures I've been in purgatory since we lost touch.

Well, it made me realize just how lucky I really am. Let me count a few ways right now:

First, I was a high-school loser - I barely had the GPA and credits to be accepted to a state school with very low standards. But I was lucky that they took me and I was lucky that my parents would pay for school, given my track record.

My parents stopped paying after a year and a half, but luckily, the US Army was willing to take me for three years and then pay for the rest of my school. I was lucky that I never got kicked out of the army, as I surely could have been - for several reasons.

But I was fortunate again, as the Army gave me some responsibility, which made me stop abusing drugs and cut way back on alcohol. I also gained the motivation and discipline I needed to finish college. I was also fortunate that Chief Warrent Officer Fenn F. George saw enough in me to put me in charge of the Battalion Logistics office, even though I had no experience in that feild. It gave me direction and confidence. Because of that, I decided to go into accounting.

After the army, I was fortunate that a good school like the University of Arizona was willing to take me with my paltry 2.5 GPA. I couldn't get into that business school now with that record.

I was fortunate to meet Mrs. Wit in college, as she kept me focused and kept me from back-sliding into party mode.

I was fortunate to be hired by Judy Clark at Rogers corporation, who trusted me, trained me and developed me as a person, an accountant and a manager.

I was fortunate to be hired as a Plant Controller by Borden, because I was not really ready for it. I was fortunate to be allowed to learn on the job.

I was fortunate to have been transferred to Minnesota, where I ended up in the right place at the right time to, with several other managers, buy two pasta plants from Borden and then sell them to another company.

I was fortunate not to have been laid off by the new company, but instead entrusted to manage the implementation of a new enterprise - level software package that linked the two merged companies. I was fortunate to work with my recently re-connected friend during that time.

I was fortunate that PricewaterhouseCoopers took me as a consultant after that project, because I was no techie geek. I was fortunate that I was able to stay with them for two years until the tech bust of 2000.

I am fortunate that I now have my own business, and I am fortunate that I will be leaving this marriage on good terms, without acrimony.

I am fortunate because I have so much to look forward to.

Thanks, DK. It's been good to talk to you again. I'm fortunate to have re-connected with you.