Five years and counting

Before I left Missouri, I had the opportunity to take some "cold weather" clothing out to my daughter's home, so when we visit in the future, and come by air, she could meet us at the airport with warm coats. Why feel obligated to keep cold weather gear in Florida, where the lowest temperatures are always above freezing. Of course, this required going out during the day and dropping off stuff at her house. That included the kind of stuff we couldn't take with us, since the U.S. Department of Agriculture forbids moving live plants and vegetables into Florida (and several other southern states) by moving van. My wife offered up our planters that used to sit on the porch rail at the condo in Wildwood - hopefully they'll survive my daughter's care in her new suburb.

Following our delivery chores, we took advantage of her lunch hour, where I got my first look at my daughter's new office, following her promotion to Assistant Manager.

I spotted her Five Year award, so I snapped a picture of it. Five years in one place is a lifetime for people in her generation, but she reminded me that the bank had paid for her Masters degree and if she didn't stay, she'd owe them big time. During that five years, she's worked for three different banks, all of them connected by merger or acquisition. She was hired by a local bank following college, which was subsequently gobbled up by a relatively small regional bank, which in turn was consumed by an even bigger regional bank. She tells me her new bank is the nation's fourth or fifth largest. I sure hope she doesn't get lost in there. All I'm certain of is that in the banking world, the best job is that of the printing firms that do letterhead and business cards.

In the days immediately following these "snaps", I would find myself packing up the Missouri condo and awaiting the moving van. We are taking our stuff south to a new house, but left some with our daughter and son-in-law, who were considerate enough to purchase a four bedroom home with plenty of room in the basement for a mother-in-law apartment when babies come. The nice thing about down-sizing is that your children are always happy to take some of your furniture.