monica...

today, i found out my manager passed away last night. she had been fighting cancer for about 10 years and it won. though she was my boss, there were only 5 of us running the program (all women) and we didn't have to be close outside of work to be close at work. she wasn't the micro-managing type and she always had an open-mind. she had been out for a while, yet the rest of us kept the program running as if she was there. i always had it in my mind that she would come back because she's been absent before and came right on back like nothing happened. but i guess this time was different, way different. the last time i saw her was july 11th at her home in lake forest. every year the program has a retreat at her house during the summer to brainstorm our approach/plan for the upcoming school year. and i was sitting, thinking about her today...i never got to say goodbye.