Goodbye

The receptionist at my office passed away on Sunday, the exact reason is still not clear but it is rumoured that depression claimed her, no older than late twenties or early thirties...she leaves behind two young children. I can picture her in her smart suit, smiling, attending to the constant stream of visitors and chatting with the security guards and housekeeping staff in the lobby. A kind word and a kind smile for everyone. Never once did it ever occur to me or to anyone else that she suffered from depression.

I try to rack my brains as to when she join the company, in my memory she was always there somehow all the other receptionists seem to have faded away. Over these years I remember wishing her a "Good Morning" at 1.00 p.m. in the afternoon (my logic being, since I work the UK shift and it is morning in the UK, the greeting is correct), she always responded with that infectious smile. The next memory I have of her is of one traditional day at the office, she was dressed in the traditional dress called Jyensyem, consisting of two ankle length pieces of cloth gathered at the shoulders. EL and I, though we were on "Hi" & "Good Morning" terms with her, made her get up from her desk and twirl around so we could see the pretty dress from every side... To say that she looked pretty is an understatement!!!

I regret that I never asked her name, I always wanted to but never did, kept putting it off to tomorrow and now the day will never come...my colleagues tell me her name was Nicola...meaning "winner of the people"... If only I could turn back time, talk to her, get her confidence, maybe this tragedy could have been averted...

Dear Nicola,

May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be ever at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields.
And until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of his hand.

You are deeply mourned by all whose lives you have touched and will be sorely missed...

Sincerely
Sen