I survived

I am an industrial engineer for your friendly brown parcel delivery service. During peak season I am their bitch. I loaded 1400 packages in 5 hours this morning. The madness is over. Peak season has ended. I no longer have to work 16 hour days. I will no longer be expected to survive on vending machine fair and 3 hours of sleep. I. Am. Free.

Now for an update- My grandfather passed on December 4th. Had he lived 6 more days he would have been 74 years old. He was not sick. He had no high blood pressure, no high cholesterol, no heart condition. He came home and fell asleep in his recliner and didn't wake up. My dad, who lives with him, found him at 6:15pm with the phone book in his lap, his thumb still marking the last page he was looking at. I will miss him dearly. He taught me many things. Things like "You can be right, or you can be happy. Sometimes you have to decide which is more important." He taught me how a man should treat his wife. Jack Podge and Joyce Ray were married on June 12, 1954, one month after her high school graduation. She had never kissed another boy. A year and a half later, to the day, my father, Jack Jr. was born. Two years later his brother, Jeff, was born. I am the oldest of three grandchildren and the only girl. My two cousins, my uncle's boys, have both grown to be fine men. My Granny left us on April 18, 2000. My Poppa's soul left with her that day, leaving us with only a shell of who he was. I believe, with all of my being, that they were a rare example of soul mates. I've not seen two people so deeply devoted to one another since. He's been waiting to be with her. Since she's been gone he's watched all three of his grandchildren graduate high school and college. He's watched two of us get married. He got to meet his first great grandchild and got to know the woman who is about to give birth to his second. And through it all, he wanted to be with her. He loved us, I've no doubt about that. He tried his best to live the remainder of his life with the same gusto he got through the first half with. But that spark in his eyes was gone. The lust for life, extinguished. He is with her now. They are happy. I'm not sad for him, I'm sad for me. I will miss him. I will mourn the loss of my child in getting to know this great pioneer. However the last time I talked to him, two days before he passed, he told me how much he loved my husband. What a good man he thought he was. He told me all the things I needed to do to "keep that boy around." I will Poppa. I will love him the same way I watch you love Granny. I will make you proud, in the way I live my life, the way I nurture my marriage, the way I raise my son. And I will know that you and Granny are sitting on the bank of a catfish pond in heaven laughing and holding hands talking about what a great life you had. We will all do our very best to honour you. I love you both very much and I hope to see you someday.