Surprised, Shocked & Saddened

I am so much out of the loop with people I know that it often takes ages for me to find out the latest news on friends or colleagues.

I found out some terrible news yesterday.

And I found it out in one of the most shocking ways, I read it on the front page of the newspaper.

One of my friends, who was also a former colleague, was killed in a road accident a few days ago.

She was only a few years older than me and, what makes this even more tragic, she had a young daughter.

I can remember the first time I met her. It was Easter Sunday of 1997, I was seventeen years old and was starting my job. I had to learn things at the neighbouring store and she was there working a shift.

As we worked in different stores, I didn't see her often. We'd usually bump into each other if I had to collect stuff from the other place or on nights out.

Then, in around 2006, she took up a managers role in my store so we got to work with each other on a more frequent basis.

I remember us both looking at the wage sheets in the office once and comparing how long each one of us had been with the company. She was dated as 1994 and I was 1997, the next one on the list was in the early 2000s so we would laugh about how we were the last employees from the 20th Century. We had seen loads of people come in and out of the company but we were sort of the old guard, if you will.

I found out a few years ago that she had finally left the company and I was surprised. I never thought she would have left.

I know it's common for people to write good things about people when they pass on but I cannot even put into words how great she was as a human being. She was probably the loudest, funniest, zaniest person I had ever met. And that sure does say something!

She loved life and I can guarantee there are tons of people out there who will never forget her.