Jeanette was the first office staff member I hired when the Adult Education and Literacy program grew too big for me to manage by myself. She was a treasure as an employee and became a treasure as a friend. Although I’m blonde and she’s Hispanic, we often showed up in the office wearing the same colors on the same day–kind of surprising, given the difference in our coloring. Jeanette and I think along the same tracks. We could easily find each other’s files, because we filed in the same kinds of categories. People in the office used to tease us about sharing a brain. Jeanette retired from SCC last week, and I went to her retirement party.
Once again, Jeanette and I showed up in the same colors.
There were decorations, food, and a slide show. Since Jeanette and I worked together for 11 years, I showed up in quite a few of the slides. (I’m in white-and-purple in the middle; Jeanette is wearing the long purple dress. We wore the same color again!) That’s Jeanette and her husband watching the slide show.
The roses on the tables were pretty. This is Jeanette’s husband, niece, and sister.
Naturally, there were gifts. Mandy (she has my old position) presented Jeanette with a gift from the office staff–a music box that plays “Remember.”
I gave Jeanette a cut glass “window” to hang in her window.
I knew everyone at the retirement party–DESE staff from Jeff City, Jeanette’s family, and AEL teachers and staff–so it was a wonderful opportunity for me to catch up with lots of people I don’t see regularly since I retired. Not surprisingly, I set up three future lunch dates with friends at the party. We’re still having fun together.