Carrie George Cox and I were introduced in
July, 1985, when I began working as a clerk in the Business
Office at Georgia Military College. I
remember taking what was called a placement test, then
interviewed and hired that day and reported to work the
following day.
In those days there were no printed staff
and faculty handbooks available therefore rules, regulations and
protocol were typically learned from the employees around you. Carrie
was not officially my supervisor but because she understood the
expectations, and realized the deadlines and requirements, she
became my mentor. She
pointed out the surrounding buildings from the office window,
and I went to my desk and began work; orientation complete.
Some of my fondest memories of the early
years of working at Georgia Military College include Carrie and
me managing against all odd to maintain the same lunch break
schedule; some of our adventures are legendary. Because
my family had just relocated to Milledgeville, I was seriously
directionally challenged; we did not need instructions to find
something in Richland so knowing the names of streets and roads
was uncommon to my way of thinking. I
thought however that because Carrie had always lived here that
she could give me directions but as it happened, she frequently
got turned around too, so we spent a lot of our allotted lunch
time trying to locate our desired destination.
When it became nearly impossible to eat
lunch and get back to our desks within an hour, we decided to
dine in the GMC Cafeteria and then stroll around the campus
until it was time to return to the Business Office. We
sometimes watched a game show on the television in Main Barracks
and on occasion, we dined in the canteen with the students.
One day during a thunderstorm we dashed to
Carrie's car for some cover and as we sat there chatting,
somehow her extremely large umbrella suddenly opened and trapped
us in the front seat of the car. We
laughed until we cried that day because not only were we
momentarily detailed, we were soaking wet and still had to
return to work.
Carrie was a recent widow when we first met
and over the years she showed by example how to overcome
difficulties, look for good in people and find a blessing in
every situation. Our
family had recently suffered though a traumatic situation so we
struggled to find a balance to our new surroundings; Carrie was
available with helpful advice and offers of assistance.
Then an opportunity to transfer to a better
paying position became available and although I wanted to pursue
a position that appeared to be designed specifically for me, the
thought of leaving my dear friend was unthinkable. When
Carrie learned about the opportunity she immediately began
encouraging me to apply for the opening.
Ultimately, I made the transfer and learned
a precious lesson, Carrie's affection for me is immeasurable,
and she made a sacrifice in order to bestow an amazing
opportunity.
