It was a Friday morning in June. Clear blue skies and mild temperatures. It was around mid morning as I pulled into my shop parking spot, the one facing the front door. I sat with my hands still on the wheel as I stared at the portal entrance of the business I had built, rehashing all the events which had occurred the previous day. I was upset and just a little bit angry. I had just returned from Ellijay late the night before because we had an emergency at the office. I had spent the previous day on and off the phone with Mobley helping her in her search for our engraver. Lisa left work on Tuesday with everything in order and jobs laid out for Wednesday’s production schedule. Wednesday came and went with out Lisa making an appearance. Calls to her cell went unanswered and messages not returned. By afternoon her friends were calling the shop looking for her because she had not answered their calls or acknowledged their messages. Thursday morning, in between meetings with contractors, I talked with Mobley and we agreed someone needed to go to the house. Upon her arrival she found the car in the driveway but no response to knocks which quickly turned into pounding on the door, I suggested she call the sheriff’s department for a wellness check. Mobley called me after an hour or so and informed me the results were what we had all feared. I drove back from Ellijay that night. When I pulled into the shop that morning, I had a flash of selfishness and a moment of anger. She was our lead engraver. This was the busiest month of the year for my little company. I had only recently climbed back into the world of the living and was looking forward to my retirement with new found excitement of the future. And for a brief moment, I was upset that I would have to go back to work. I sat in the car contemplating all this when my phone chimed I had a message on Facebook.
I seldom received an IM so looking for an excuse to delay my entrance I checked my phone. It was from an very good customer from a time years before Meredith was diagnosed. I continued to call on her until the time arrived for me to turn over customer care to Mobley and stay with Meredith full time. You make sales calls on the same person over the years and very often you become friends not just client and salesman. Lisa was one of Janice’s best friends and in office chit chat over the years she had kept me up to date on Janice’s job resignation and her move to Brunswick to be closer to her mother and sister. I had not seen or talked with her for 6 years or so. Now there was the message from her wanting to know the details about Lisa and what had happened with her. Knowing how close the two of them had been I sent a six word response. Little did I know the impact of a six word response would have on my life. I did not have her phone number so I responded to my Future Wife Janice Johnson “It’s complicated. Call me at 404-642-….”