Boomer Retirement Tuesday

Today we held a special lunch for a whole batch of newly minted retirees.  The traditional Chico bbq trailer  for the tri-tip was wheeled in along with barrels for roasting many chickens.  Veggie burgers had been prepared and huge bowls of salad and beans along with grilled garlic bread were spread out in a now vacant section of the building which is now used as a yoga center and workout space during off hours.

It was a perfect late summer day for lounging on the grass, visiting with old friends and contemplating endings.

Budget constraints, groaning workloads...all that was forgotten for a bit as our City family gathered to wish these compadres all the best.   There you would find the police chief, officers and dispatchers, the Mayor and a few Councilmembers, the street crews, the planners, the City Manager and Assistant, the engineers, the finance folk, the attorneys and legal staff, fire personnel, human resources and risk managers, housing and neighborhood services staff, building inspectors, code enforcement officers, the urban forester and park rangers and a few babies and toddlers mingling on the lawn, reminiscing or chasing balloons. 

The visionaries and the pragmatists who populate my work-world.  My second family.

I contented myself with snapping my camera madly and experiencing this day through a focused lens - it seems to help me deal with losses.

These retirees are irreplaceable, although their work remains and will be spread throughout the ranks.  Tough times in the public sector.  The need for public services remains, no matter how thin the staff.

After lunch, I prepared for a City Council meeting that evening.  So it goes.

To my comrades at arms about to embark on the next adventure, here is my video homage and my parting advice:

Happy Trails and Enjoy!

PS - I am so jealous.



Gave Me the Simple Life

Most fathers don't see the war within the daughter, her struggles with conflicting images of the idealized and flawed father, her temptation both to retreat to Daddy's lap and protection and to push out of his embrace to that of beau and the world beyond home.   ~~ Victoria Secunda


Another August 26, Dad's second birthday since he died in July 2009.  Still miss him, still realizing all the deep ways in which he very quietly and confidently imprinted me.  As the oldest and a girl, I wasn't always quite sure of my way for this was a time in which the role of women was starting to change.  Pre-Title 9.  He encouraged education and involvement for me and all my sibs, but there is that strange push me-pull me between dads and daughters as the quote suggests.

My dad loved me.  Of that I have no doubt.  What a gift.  The only thing I could think of as a thank-you was to give a brief eulogy during his service.  He was a master speaker in business and foremost fan of every speech I practiced for Student Council or sophomore speech classes.  Here is my eulogy; focusing on this helped to get me through your loss - thanks again Dad.