Post Thanksgiving I begin pulling out the Christmas decorations and every year I do so I think of my former boss Ann Combs. Here’s why.
At Christmas time Ann would always do something special for all of us who worked for her. For instance, one year she had all of us to her house in Helen for a luncheon she prepared for us. Other years she would take all of us out to lunch and pick up the tab.
One year she presented each of us with a quilt or a quilted wall hanging that she had made. Here is the one she made for me and the one that reminds me of her each year I pull it out of the attic.
However, this year my remembrance of Ann was different. In previous years, whenever I would pull the wall hanging out I would think of her and wonder how she was doing. I would then make a mental note to get in touch with her sometime.
Through the years since we both retired, I tried a couple of times to catch up with her but when I did so things invariably fell through. She was always very busy taking care of her husband Bob along with her elderly aunt and uncle who lived nearby. She was also on the Health Share Board with my wife Pam so I would see her every so often at one of their fund raisers.
As noted, when I pulled out the wall hanging this year, my mental note was one of sadness at not having contacted her and not having maintained closer contact with her. You see she died of cancer this previous May at the age of 68.
In his remarks at Ann’s funeral service, Father Woods noted how knitters and quilters often will leave a mistake in their works to demonstrate that nothing in life is ever perfect. As he said those words I thought to myself “I bet there weren’t any mistakes in any of Ann’s works.” Ann was a perfectionist. The only thing imperfect about her was how she died. I really do wish that I had stayed in closer contact with her. As is, I will forever think of her at this time of year when putting up Christmas decorations. Her obit follows.
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| http://mgfh.com/book-of-memories/2948216/Combs-Ann/obituary.php |