Government shutdowns always make me a bit sad but not for the reason(s) you may think. (In fact, now that I am retired and don’t have to sweat living paycheck to paycheck, I kind of enjoy all the fake drama and handwringing that surrounds shutting down the Government. I even have a catch phrase for it now:”The Federal Government may be closed, but Buzzy’s is open.”)
Back to my reason for feeling sad, it has to do with a friend of mine who passed away in 2009. Here is our shutdown connection.
Elaine and I were co-workers and friends for several years. At both organizations where we worked, Elaine was in the Front Office and I worked nearby. I always liked her and enjoyed talking with her off and on during our work days. Over the course of several years, we talked our way through many of life’s setbacks and curve balls and I always valued her take on things.
In 1995 we were working when a Government shutdown occurred and we were told to go home. As word of the shutdown was issued around midday and we were sent home, Elaine came by my cube and asked me what I was going to do. I told her that I needed a part for a kitchen cabinet I was repairing and that I was going to try and find it. I invited her to join me and then we would get some lunch.
She agreed to ride along and I picked her up at her house. When she got in my car she had a copy of Cosmopolitan magazine with her that she had just gotten in the mail. She made some joke about all the ads in it and that she spent more time looking at the ads than she did reading the articles.
I drove us to Beautiful Kitchens and as I turned off the car Elaine said “I’ll just stay here and read my magazine.” It was short visit for me because Beautiful Kitchens did not have the part. I then went to Dean Lumber and again Elaine stayed in the car and read. Dean’s didn’t have the part either.
We then went to Lowes where Elaine decided to come in with me. (I always tell this story to show that Lowes has figured out how to appeal to women because they all seem to enjoy going into Lowes as did Elaine.)
I found the cabinet part and we left Lowes and then had lunch at Linda’s Café. It was a very pleasant afternoon and remains my favorite memory and time spent with Elaine. She laughed about it afterwards and told folks at work how our shutdown date involved me taking her to hardware stores.
As with many workplace friendships however, we drifted apart once we got new jobs and did not work so closely together anymore. As a result we did not stay in touch. I would occasionally run into her shopping somewhere in Lexington Park and we would briefly catch up but that was it. One Christmas she sent me a card that simply said “Hope you are doing well.” That was the last I heard from her. Sadly, Elaine passed in 2009.
Looking back, I wish that I had stayed in closer contact with her. She was a very nice lady and I am glad to have known her.
As for songs that remind me of Elaine, Mony Mony by Tommy James always comes to mind for reasons that I have I discussed in a previous post (click here.) (Elaine was the rock and roll girl I mentioned in that post and was the person who told me about the dirty version of Mony Mony.)