done and done

I came north to tick off three items on my TO DO list. They are done.

The third item was to surprise my colleague Janelle at her retirement party yesterday in Salem. And I did.

Janelle and I started working at SAIF as trial attorneys 30 years ago. I left 10 years ago. She decided to hang on until yesterday.

There are people we bond with along the journey we call life. I believe that everyone we meet affects our lives to some degree. Others change the trajectory of who we become. Janelle is one of the latter.

We worked together on the same trial team for several years. When we started there, the workload was incredible. Monthly we would receive up to 40 new cases a month.

To cope with the tension, we developed a little workplace game. At the time, Murphy Brown had just started its popular television run. The series centered around an attractive journalist (Murphy Brown) who was as hard-driving as she was ethical. I suspect the artifice began because there was never any doubt that Janelle was Murphy walking amongst us.

There were two male supporting roles: Jim, the older anchor who provided stability to the team, and Frank, the younger, highly neurotic reporter. I always wanted to be Jim. Janelle tagged me as Frank.

And that was fine with me. The level-headed Jim was how I saw myself. But Frank was Janelle's buddy. And that far better-suited the relationship I had with Janelle.

Since I retired, I have been back to the SAIF building only three times. I have never regretted retiring. But I must admit there is a little of the fire horse sent out to pasture still in my soul. Reminiscing about cases piqued my lawyerly interest yesterday.

However, I was not there as an attorney. Or even a fellow retiree.

I was there as Frank -- watching Murph take a victory lap before shutting down her computer for the last time.

For Janelle, it is time to enjoy retirement. I know she will.