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So, this afternoon, my grandmother's life came to an end.

Born in 1911 she was two months away from her 97th birthday. She is survived by 2 sisters, four children, 14 grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren (plus one more expected in April), and 2 great-great grandchildren. She was the wife of the late Michael Rosa who died in September of 1970.

Through the ages the fates have been portrayed as 3 sisters, spinning out the threads of human life. It struck me that my grandmother's life can in fact be measured, most deftly, in thread. For those who did not know, my grandmother was a master crocheter. In her hands a hook became something that displayed her consummate artistry. She learned the skill as a child and never gave it up her entire life. If she sold her work at a craft fair she would sell out of what she brought and go home with orders from people amounting to more items then she came with to sell. Taking a pride in her work she would reserve her most exquisite work for baby clothes and accessories. In the time it would take some to begin to understand a pattern for a project, she would have expounded upon that idea and fashioned a work that was something completely new. When I think about how she could not leave a pattern unaltered I am reminded of a story about George Frederick Handel; Handel was asked why he so blatantly stole a melody from another composer he replied "Well, he didn't know what a good thing he had there, I had to take it!"

For as long as I live I will remember her being a part of my life. Holidays were not complete without a visit to her home. Rights of passage were always missing something if she were not there.

I hope she was proud of me. I hope she knows I'm going to be ok, that my family will make her proud. That I will continue to spread her legacy of sharing the creative powers with which God so richly endowed her family.

"I took her hand in mine, and we went out of that ruined place; and, as the morning mists had risen long ago when I first left the forge, so, the evening mists were rising now, and in all the broad expanse of tranquil light they showed to me, I saw no shadow of another parting from her."

There is a way to overcome what we have been taught, the harmful habbits that we consider to be our truths. I hope getting there is not too painful for those that make the journey.

Odds and Ends

I need to be better about posting once a week. I think I can handle that. The oddest thing has started happening lately with our coffee maker. One day I forgot to set it to turn on automatically, the next day I found that while I had set it to go on automatically we had neglected to turn the clock ahead one hour. A few days later I forgot to put a filter in the basket and so the grinds clogged the spout, causing the coffee to back up and then spill all over. In helping to clean up this spill K unplugged the unit AND remembered to reset the clock but forgot to set the clock so the unit would start brewing, I did not realize this and so had to turn on the unit when I got up this morning.

What is it with this thing? After 2 years I suddenly start having issues? Maybe there is some planet that messes with a Libra's abilities?

Lesson learned: don't take anything for granted.

HR

So today at a luncheon I went to the issue of what workers in a company's HR department take upon themselves to decide about an potential hire came up. The trouble with HR departments is that the areas of expertise for an HR person usually have nothing to do with what a company does. No librarian (for instance) says one day "oh, let me go back to school and start a new career in HR for libraries." Now, if a person works many years for an employer, of course that person (most likely) will acquire some expertise in what kind of work the jobs for that company require. You are basically in the hands of a person who knows nothing about what you do in your field and (more than likely) knows nothing about the job you are applying for.

All hope is not lost! In many situations HR are just a gateway through which your application comes. Your packet is then passed on to a search committee. For the most part these people are able to cast a subjective eye over your material and a pool of candidates begins to be created.

For myself I can only only wonder how frustrating it must be to work in an HR department? All the pressure to have to do things in an exact prescribed fashion, no matter what.