My Friend Bill

It's my friend Bill's 66th birthday today.  I felt so fortunate to be able to celebrate it with him along with his family and 100+ other friends.

I can't recall the exact date when I met Bill, but I do remember it was through one of my graduate school classes in early 1990.  He was a patient, experienced professor, and I was a confused foreign student. 

In the summer of 1990, right after my graduation, Bill called me one day and told me that there was a job opening for a Research Assistant at a market research firm in downtown Chicago.  In August 1990, I started the very first job in my life.  Looking back, it's been 23 years since I got to know Bill.  To me, it was a very LONG 23 years filled with many ups and downs... 

I worked at my first job for about 5 years, then got into healthcare analytics for the next 18 years.  Like millions of working-class Americans, I've devoted so much of my heart and soul to my career -- growing from a little Research Assistant to a Research Associate to a Sr. Consultant to a Manager to a Sr. Director.  I spent the next 8 years being a corporate Vice President and then the most recent 2 years as the Chief Informatics Officer of the company.  Yes, it's been a long, bumpy road.  But honestly, I don't know where I would be today had Bill not given me a helping hand 23 years ago!

I have not seen or talked to Bill for the past 18 years.  Two weeks ago, out of the blue, I got an email from him inviting me to his birthday party on 7/20/13.  In the email, he told me that he had recently been diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer, and he would like me to attend his birthday celebration.  I picked up the phone and called him immediately.  We talked -- about his boys and my little Michelle, about his job and mine, about our coworkers, about the past...  I made sure to tell him how much I appreciate all the help he's given me and how much his friendship means to me.

So, the birthday party came and went today.  I tried to fit into his circle of friends and relate to their lives.  Bill gave an unusual birthday speech, deeply reflective and very emotional.  When you think about it, we meet so many people on our life-long journey, but very few of them can really touch our lives in a special way.  Bill is one of those very few people in my life, and I am forever thankful for having him as a friend.