A Wise Woman Cometh

Another dear, old friend came to visit yesterday. Fortunately, business brought her to town and we got to spend the evening catching up.

Stacy and I worked together for nearly 17 years. She was the manager in another part of the state and lived three hours away so it took a while to become close, but over the years we discovered that we had much in common. Both sticklers for detail and absolute honestly and neither suffering fools gladly. She brought professional experience to the table and I brought years of practical experience. We both brought common sense. Over the years we often found common ground in solutions altho we came to problems from very different directions. Our collaborations were strong and we found that we thoroughly enjoyed each other's company.

She is currently enrolled in a PhD program and will soon be teaching at the university level and helping young people master her field. In the meantime she is working full time doing research into obesity programs and is trying to find ways to help our youth reverse the current trend of overweight in America.

A wife and mother, she is involved with her teenage son and makes time to be with him at school functions and athletic events. A daughter, sister and aunt, she is involved in her extended family - often including several generations in whatever activity she has going. A homemaker, she has the greatest red and white kitchen ever. I never see a red do-dad for the kitchen that I don't consider getting it for her.

Over the years she has helped me to stop and think things thru and to look at issues from many directions. She has listened when I needed to vent. She has called me to discuss an issue before making a decision, and together we have a fired staff member who was not making the grade. Today she's my weight loss adviser and a cheerleader for my never-ending struggled to drop ten pounds.

It was a delight to talk the evening away, and again over breakfast to find that the distance between us is so small.