The Real Backbone

7-28-2013

            Each day we go into work, we may fail to think of a wonderful lady known as Jerica. She is the one who holds us all together. She is the backbone to everything we do. She is the reason everything runs smoothly and properly. She is the reason we get to walk into work that day. She is our area manager in Illinois and she deserves a lot of praise.

            While we sit in that stand keeping our ten twenties and sweating in the hot sunshine, she is either in her office at the Vaughan Center dealing with paperwork and phone calls, from complaints to package deliveries to paycheck issues, or she is at her third meeting of the day. Whenever I see her in her office, she is on the phone or deep into her laptop. Sometimes she will have me do things for her randomly, and I am glad to help.

            A remarkable wonder about her is how, no matter what, when I walk through that office door either to talk to her or for something else, she looks up with a smile and a hello. She always makes me feel welcome. It is easy to spark a conversation with her. She is a wonderful person to talk to, even if it is just some problems from home or with some friends.

            But sometimes I can see the stress behind her work. I can see her smile, but I catch her sighing. When I ask her how her day is going, sometimes she says light and easy, but other times she has a load of work to do. It is that smile, though, that shows how strong she is, that she can handle anything thrown in her direction.

            Jerica’s wardrobe must be any other girl’s dream. She knows how to shop. She does not only dress professionally, she dresses in the perfect clothes to make her even more beautiful. Sometimes it is long pants with a gold shirt and scarf, sometimes it is a long black dress with a cardigan and a black beaded necklace. Her long black hair goes perfect with anything she wears. Most of the time, she puts it up into a bun with it pulled around her head rather than straight back.

            She just recently got married last month. I found her Facebook and saw a picture of her in her wedding dress with her Bridesmaids. She was so stunning I almost fell out of my chair. Her husband John is the luckiest man on this planet.

            Sometimes I hear people talk about other coworkers, and it is not always good. But if someone brings up Jerica’s name, everyone smiles every time because we all know how wonderful she is. She is always fair and she never lies. She goes out of her way to do something for someone for some reason.

            I think everyone should throw her a big thank you party for all the wonderful and hard work she does for all of us.