On the Tenth Day of a Feminine Christmas

For those of us who work full-time, crafting Christmas is a challenge.  I find that things are not so Christmas-friendly at the office anymore.  I recall wonderful Christmas parties held right inside the workplace years ago and days on end of decorating, planning, and gifting.  Sadly, not so today.

I had a wonderful boss once who allowed us to leave the office to finish Christmas shopping or do last minute errands.  She understood.  With a quick wink, she would whisper, “Go, go!  Get outta here, Kid”.  She was rough around the edges but oh so kind.  She seemed to know that Christmas is a one-woman magic show and the women who worked for her were mothers and magicians.

She was also the boss that asked me one devastatingly hot summer if I had an air conditioner for my small daughter and I.  When I told her no, the next Saturday a unnamed pick-up truck delivered a brand new air conditioner to my cloistered city apartment.  That’s the kind of boss she was…that’s the kind of human being she was.

Last year, I happened upon her obituary in the newspaper and felt a swift stab of sadness and sent a note to her next of kin, a niece with her name.  She wrote back and told me I had described her aunt perfectly, an old salt who in an undercover way loved and helped all her underlings.  I’ve had all kinds of bosses through the years – the good, the bad and the ugly.  She was most definitely in the best camp with that marvelous dichotomy of mettle and benevolence.  She was a tough cookie with Christmas heart of gold.