Time to turn the clocks back

Already? I have fought this time change more than any other I can remember (in my head, of course.) Somehow, I did not want fall to come, let alone leave. It has been spectacularly beautiful this fall. So much for the prediction that the fall colors would not be as vivid due to the lack of rain all summer. But with the fall comes change... and we are wrapping up lots of things this fall.

I said goodbye to three friends from Hart & Cooley this week. Well, so what if they are young women...they are dear friends. When I went there twenty years ago they were in their twenties...just married, in the case of two, so I went through their having children...a divorce with one and battles with employees and others. The third got married to another H&C person and pulled off the biggest coup when they announced their engagement. They worked together and no one even knew (except for a few, of course) that they were an item. They dated in GR so as not to make a show around Holland. They were afraid of HR I guess.

We hugged after our lunch. I didn't want to let go in a way and yet they are all now in their forties and moms and so full of energy and hope. But the undlying attraction is and was how smart they are. I mean...brilliant minds...all three. They worked hard and figured things out and didn't whine (much.) What I furnished was the perspective and the interpersonal skills that they had not yet acquired due to their tender ages. They showed me stuff on the computer and statistically, or mathmatically about keeping track of production pieces and efficiencies and all that stuff and I talked to them about getting people to work with them in a more productive manner. A symbiotic relationship, perhaps. All three "reported" to me at one time or another and never once did they give me any grief. They were team players.

We all vowed to stay in touch, but I know how that goes...maybe Christmas cards. Anyway, that is what fall has been, one after another...the Center for Dispute Resolution, church, our condo flock, close friends, and certainly Jeff's new family...just when we are getting ready to leave the area Jeff gets some very interesting people in his life that we will miss too.

So on this beautiful fall day...turn your clocks back and keep on moving forward. When will it be April?