Sunday, May 15, 2005

Santa Fe

We've finished the job in Santa Fe. This was a tough one. It's not that
the financial statements were difficult. This was a difficult job on a
different level.

This is the job we were supposed to do a couple weeks ago. It's a small
nonprofit. I was coming to work with one person, the Treasurer. The job
got delayed because he died. They still wanted the job done, so here we
are, working with the wife of the Treasurer. He was so proud of how he'd
gotten everything together, and he was so excited about getting the first
audit ever for the organization, his wife was anxious to complete what he
had started, what was so important to him.

What a delightful woman. What strength at such a time. And how many
parallels could we draw between their lives and ours? They were our age.
They started dating in high school. They had been married the same length
of time. Kids. Grandkids. This stage in their lives they end up working
with nonprofit organizations...

He was in great shape. He paid attention to his health. He exercised. But
he was sixty. Right in the middle of their plans he died of a heart attack.

So this one was difficult.