Dragon Lady ;)

Here’s a quick story that my mom told me recently and I wanted to share it. It’s another reason why she’s my hero:

During mom’s time in the Air Force she had several jobs in various offices within the Pentagon. She described one of her co-workers in one of those jobs as a confident man who loved to chat, especially about his dog – the man would brag incessantly about his faithful companion.

After some time spent working with this fellow, mom noticed some changes in his behavior. Instead of standing up straight and walking tall, the man began to slump. His performance at work did not really fall, but his interest in talking about anything did. He even stopped talking about his dog, except to say that he had been kenneling him recently.

Thanks to a previous boss, mom was well trained in suicide prevention. Recognizing the changes in her friend, she took her concerns to her boss. Unfortunately the boss did nothing. A short time later mom went to another person with the observations that she had made. This boss told her flat out that the man indeed was depressed, but it was “just” because his wife was openly cheating on him with someone who was technically his boss. This boss told mom to stay out of it, and that it would work itself out.

Around that time, mom was transferred to another office. This office happened to communicate with the first, so mom continued occasional interactions with her depressed coworker. Finally, mom took the problem to another boss. This one finally acted, and had the man seen by a psychologist – who had him admitted to the psych hospital because he was in such bad shape.

I was amazed to hear my mom tell me, without pretension, of how she saved someone’s life. She saw a problem in a friend and didn’t give up until he got help. I thought this was such a great story from a superhero mom. Happy Mothers Day.