Saturday, January 28, 2012

A take away.

Yesterday morning I learned someone I once knew passed away after a battle with cancer.

She left two very small children and her husband behind.

We were coworkers ages ago at a fashion forward boutique and casual friends. She left after having her first child and came back to work part time- picking up a shift here or there. Most of the time she lent her creative talents to design the windows or help with merchandising. We never really pursued a relationship outside of work but were friendly when we ran into each other outside of work and in our community after we both moved on from working at the boutique.

We had lost touch, I had no idea she was really sick until a mutual contact hosted a benefit on her website to raise money for her medical treatments.

I didn't realize how much of an impact K had on my parenting choices until I started to reflect on our relationship.

K was the first mama I ever observed nursing in public. My young (not yet even married or thinking about kids self ) did even know that breastfeeding was something people still did, let alone in public for the world to see. Her quiet confidence about nursing opened my eyes to a mama path that I myself later chose when I had Malone.

I have a distinct memory of K dressing the windows with her baby on her back. Before this moment of observation, I had always thought that you had to use a stroller or carry your baby in your arms. I had no idea a baby could be "worn." Wearing her baby seemed like a natural idea to K and eventually, to me too.

I wish that I would have pursued more of a friendship with K than just our causal work friendship that stayed within the confines of that boutique. I wonder what else I could have learned from her. And for her family and friends who are mourning her loss, I wish peaceful memories of reflection.

5 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry for your loss. xo

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    1. Thanks Shell! I wasn't expecting the news to hit me so hard, given that we were no longer in touch.

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  2. It is kind of sad to hear of a co-worker passing away even if you didn't have a relationship outside of work. May K's family find peace.

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  3. Remy, I agree. I HATE hearing about anyone I once knew passing. This story is especially tragic.

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  4. Sometimes it's hard to see a person you work with as anything more than a co-worker. That is, until one of you leaves the workplace or even worse, gets sick. A similar thing happened to me and I just had to accept the fact that hopefully I had impacted her life in the same way she impacted mine. It's hard to find peace sometimes, but I felt it was the way for me to move on.

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