Melissa A.
12-11-2009, 11:47 AM
Hi Folkies,
Had a pretty neat, interesting moment last night. As I've said before, I'm not quite out at work yet, but it's happening real soon, and I'm not trying to hide anything, either. One person there knows, and he told me I have an ally if I need one, and I'm already working with corporate HR on developing a plan of action. Anyway, my Mom's husband of 28 years passed away a week and a half ago. He had alot of physical problems the last few years, and while it sad and heartbreaking, he was 73, and this last blood clot and surgery was just too much for him, and my Mom finally had to decide on DNR. My mom's a very strong, special woman, and she will survive, with our help. So, Anyway, I needed an obit or some kind of verification to fax to my payroll dept. for my claim of 3 day's bereavement pay. There was one in the local Kingston paper, but with everything going on last week, I forgot to get a copy while I was there. So my mom calls me yesterday morning and tells me there's a very nice obit of him in today's NY Times. He was a pretty well-known man and quite a scholar. He wrote quite a few books about music, and also ran a music distribution company with my mom for many years called Original Music, which focused on World Music(Latin, south American, African jazz, pop, and all other kinds of interesting music from all over the world, which he has travelled extensively). The obit was pretty long, and very nice. Like I said, he was a very interesting and intelligent man.(grew up in the UK durring the Blitz, attended Oxford, lived all over the world, etc.) Problem is, I picked it up the paper on my way to work, and only read the first couple of paragraphs before I raced upstairs, made a couple of copies, and faxed one to payroll, 1,000 miles away in Jacksonville. The Yardmaster helping me is a musician, and saw the headline and said, "Wow. World Music Scholar??? This was your stepfather???" I said "yep" So he wants a copy to read, and I said sure. A few hours later, I had a short break, so I'm upstairs talking with him, and he says, "How come you aren't in the obituary?" I said, well, my mom told me that stepkids often aren't included in..." "No, no", he inturrupts, and starts reading, "Mr. Roberts also leaves 3 stepchildren, Stephen, Elizabeth, and MELISSA Keiper."!!! Wow. This I didn't expect. My first reaction was a well of emotion and love for my Mom. She didnt have to do that, and she did. I am totally out and presenting female everywhere outside of work, and my family is just wonderful, but still, it hasnt been all that long. So after I smiled, and said, "is that what it says?" He said, "yeah!" and before asking for an explanantion, he just kind of moved on(he doesnt know that I only have ONE sister!), kinda joking that they forgot me. This guy is pretty cool, and if he had pursued it, I think I just would have told him that Melissa is me, but he didnt, so I let it go. Nice moment though, and kinda caught me off guard. Always read something in it's entirety before you give it to someone else to read, I guess is the lesson here! Damn, I just love my family, and my wonderful, wonderful Mommy :)
Hugs,
Melissa:)
Had a pretty neat, interesting moment last night. As I've said before, I'm not quite out at work yet, but it's happening real soon, and I'm not trying to hide anything, either. One person there knows, and he told me I have an ally if I need one, and I'm already working with corporate HR on developing a plan of action. Anyway, my Mom's husband of 28 years passed away a week and a half ago. He had alot of physical problems the last few years, and while it sad and heartbreaking, he was 73, and this last blood clot and surgery was just too much for him, and my Mom finally had to decide on DNR. My mom's a very strong, special woman, and she will survive, with our help. So, Anyway, I needed an obit or some kind of verification to fax to my payroll dept. for my claim of 3 day's bereavement pay. There was one in the local Kingston paper, but with everything going on last week, I forgot to get a copy while I was there. So my mom calls me yesterday morning and tells me there's a very nice obit of him in today's NY Times. He was a pretty well-known man and quite a scholar. He wrote quite a few books about music, and also ran a music distribution company with my mom for many years called Original Music, which focused on World Music(Latin, south American, African jazz, pop, and all other kinds of interesting music from all over the world, which he has travelled extensively). The obit was pretty long, and very nice. Like I said, he was a very interesting and intelligent man.(grew up in the UK durring the Blitz, attended Oxford, lived all over the world, etc.) Problem is, I picked it up the paper on my way to work, and only read the first couple of paragraphs before I raced upstairs, made a couple of copies, and faxed one to payroll, 1,000 miles away in Jacksonville. The Yardmaster helping me is a musician, and saw the headline and said, "Wow. World Music Scholar??? This was your stepfather???" I said "yep" So he wants a copy to read, and I said sure. A few hours later, I had a short break, so I'm upstairs talking with him, and he says, "How come you aren't in the obituary?" I said, well, my mom told me that stepkids often aren't included in..." "No, no", he inturrupts, and starts reading, "Mr. Roberts also leaves 3 stepchildren, Stephen, Elizabeth, and MELISSA Keiper."!!! Wow. This I didn't expect. My first reaction was a well of emotion and love for my Mom. She didnt have to do that, and she did. I am totally out and presenting female everywhere outside of work, and my family is just wonderful, but still, it hasnt been all that long. So after I smiled, and said, "is that what it says?" He said, "yeah!" and before asking for an explanantion, he just kind of moved on(he doesnt know that I only have ONE sister!), kinda joking that they forgot me. This guy is pretty cool, and if he had pursued it, I think I just would have told him that Melissa is me, but he didnt, so I let it go. Nice moment though, and kinda caught me off guard. Always read something in it's entirety before you give it to someone else to read, I guess is the lesson here! Damn, I just love my family, and my wonderful, wonderful Mommy :)
Hugs,
Melissa:)