News of ex-colleagues

[661-Pete]

A sobering time for reflection at work. News of two former colleagues.

1. Yesterday we were visited (just to say hello) by a former employee, made redundant last year. A vivacious woman in her 50s with a fine head of curly blonde hair, as I remember her (hadn't seen her for over a year).

Not any more though. Her head was tightly bound in a knotted scarf, her face looked wasted and drawn, and she cracked a joke about "at least I've got my eyebrows back". I had no idea of her plight. Don't know what type of big 'C' assailed her, I don't know her well enough to ask, but made me very thoughtful. I spend too much time dwelling on my own problems...

Poor Yvonne.

2. Only this morning, E-mail about the death of another former employee, this one left some years earlier, a much younger woman only in her 30s I think. Quite a shock. We weren't told the cause, but I shall ask.

Poor Sarah.

As I said, makes me think...

 

[fossyant]

It's life unfortunately. Had a few instances like this. The MD of the company I left 3 years ago died very suddenly of cancer this year - fit, good diet etc... diagnosis to dead only a few months...

So chear up, we might get squashed by a taxi tomorrow !

 

[rh100]

That's very sad, reminds us to enjoy life I guess.

 

[Globalti]

I often ponder the fragility of life; we struggle to maintain our lives and the systems that surround us in some kind of equilibrium but you only have to watch Cops With Cameras on TV to see what happens to people whose lives are off the rails.

 

[Plax]

Indeed. Ex work colleague of mine has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and has only a matter of months left apparently. Another work colleague of mine has died of cancer (who was also Mr Plax's neighbour).
My cousin, who is younger than me has recently been diagnosed with stage 2 borderline stage 3 cancer so hopefully he will pull through. It seems that everyone at some stage will have too much contact with the disease, it seems to be a big killer, having claimed 2 members of my family already.

 

[661-Pete]

Update. Yvonne (62): leukaemia, is undergoing treatment; hopeful for remission. Sarah (37): possibly accidental; her partner found her dead at the foot of the stairs. Very sad.

 

[MichaelM]

I worked with someone who had this dream of riding his motorbike across America.

He was made redundant, and was diagnosed with cancer within 3 months, died about a 12 months later, funeral was on christmas eve.

He was a big Willie Nelson fan, and his body was brought into the funeral hall to the tune of "Angels flying too close to the ground", at which point absolutely everyone started crying.

He told me he'd chosen the music for funeral - I reckon he knew what effect that would have - the git. I have fond memories of him and always think of him whenever I hear Willie Nelson.

 

[Rebel Ian]

It's a few years ago now but one of my former colleagues was found slumped on the floor at her desk early one morning. She'd collapsed at her desk and the ambulance people said she'd have been dead before she hit the floor.

She was a lovely girl. Beautiful. She had a 13 year old daughter at the time of her death. Obviously an autopsy was carried out and there was no heart attack or anything. it was natural causes. It was just her time. She was 34.

Reminds us that life's not a dress rehearsal.

 

[Crankarm]

We are all slowly dying, unfortunately some more quickly than others. That's life.

 

[addictfreak]

We are all slowly dying, unfortunately some more quickly than others. That's life.

What a cheerie thought, have you ever thought of a job with the Samaritans. You would be a hoot at the end of a phone line

 

[User482]

Pigs might fly...

 

[shippers]

It's a joyful thread this one!

What gets me is the obese and substace-addicted who seem to go through life unscathed before keeling over at relatively old ages.

Had a chat with some kids at school today- a toddler was knocked over, and these girls knew him- his dad told him to stand on the pavement but the kid then ran behind daddys car when he was reversing.
Mypupils got me onto Google Earth and the coverstation went...
"That corner is where ***** was knocked over. There's my house. Someone was shot and killed next to those steps a couple of years ago. There was a girl raped just over that wall...."

What a wonderful world.

 

[Crankarm]

What a cheerie thought, have you ever thought of a job with the Samaritans. You would be a hoot at the end of a phone line

Years ago I used to take calls for them, but gave it up as they said my disposition was too upbeat.

 

[Crankarm]

It's a joyful thread this one!

What gets me is the obese and substace-addicted who seem to go through life unscathed before keeling over at relatively old ages.

Had a chat with some kids at school today- a toddler was knocked over, and these girls knew him- his dad told him to stand on the pavement but the kid then ran behind daddys car when he was reversing.
Mypupils got me onto Google Earth and the coverstation went...
"That corner is where ***** was knocked over. There's my house. Someone was shot and killed next to those steps a couple of years ago. There was a girl raped just over that wall...."

What a wonderful world.

....... in shipper's land.

 

[PaulB]

I ran my own company ten years ago and employed a former colleague who had been very, very good when we'd previously worked together. We got on well and things went swimmingly....until we needed him to impart the info we'd given him to our clients. He would struggle to remember stuff and was full of fluster and excuses. This was strange as he'd been one of the best people I'd ever worked alongside. It looked as though it was the first stages of Alzheimers and in the last two years, we've heard from his wife that he's now really bad with the pre-senile dementia. He doesn't know his own wife and frequently doesn't recognise his own kids. I once met his father who was 82 and played (reasonably well) a regular session of Pool in his Belfast pub so it didn't come down the father line, that's for sure.