Everything Happens
for a Reason, Right?
This afternoon, I sat with my hippie sister…both of us only
days away walking away from a lifestyle we have known for most of our adult
lives. Jessica looked at me and
said: “Everything does NOT happen for a
reason. But the people we are usually dictates
how we will react to the things that happen to us.” She spoke those words after she had watched
me agonize all day about having to leave this job I love…the part of my life
that has been a constant for 15 years.
And as her words rang, back and forth, in my mind, I realized that
it isn’t necessarily the job that I am losing.
It’s the people. People like
Jessica. And people who have given me a
purpose for the last decade and a half.
The Greater Good.
The best part about my job is that I get to meet and love a
lot of people. People with different
ideals. People with different
convictions. People from all different
cultures. But they all have something in
common: They choose to commit themselves
to something bigger…to the greater good.
And as I listened to my little sister try to put my mind at ease today,
I began to think about what I will miss the most about this job…the
people. Then, later, as I drove home, my
mind idled at the memories of a certain group of people. A group of people who have, every day,
reminded me about who I work for. And
for that matter, have reminded me why I go to work every day.
Golden Gate:
Coast Guard Station Golden Gate is situated in an idyllic
location at the foot of the North Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge. The unit’s location is breathtaking. It is the best place in the bay to capture
views of the San Francisco skyline, the Marin Headlands, and the iconic copper
bridge. Station Golden Gate is
perpetually on the list of the Coast Guard’s three busiest units. I don’t have the exact numbers, but the unit
conducts something like 600 search and rescue cases a year, 400 law
enforcement boardings, and 200 environmental responses every year. For a crew of 50, that’s a pretty impressive
workload. Not to mention the
jumpers. More than 250 people leap to a
very unromantic death, each year, from the Golden Gate Bridge. It is the responsibility of Golden Gate’s
crew to recover the bodies of those tortured souls.
These tremendous tasks have made Station Golden Gate the topic
of books, television documentaries, and newspaper articles. It’s kind of hard to imagine that, three
years ago, the men and women of Station Golden Gate became my responsibility. These heroes are mine.
The Gate and Her
People:
Since I, inadvertently, took “responsibility” for the Gate, I’ve been deeply
moved by the reality and the humanity there.
For example, the Executive Petty Officer who helped us get his crew
medically ready for world wide deployment.
The woman who lead where very few had lead before her. The mouthy kid who burned my ass, but turned
out to be one of the most outstanding, courageous people I have ever met. The trio who, only three years ago, envisioned
a 5 and 12k race, that turned into something much bigger than any of them had
expected it could be. The next Executive
Petty Officer, who showed compassion to a mistreated shipmate. A CO, who always takes my calls, despite the
fact he’s running an entire unit. The
guy who walked around with a punctured lung for five months before seeking
medical treatment…Same guy was driving boats in heavy surf less than a month after
having surgery to repair his lung. The
kids who call on the days they have to run five miles, and plead with me, “Ms.
Angela, please tell them I’m too sick to run!!!” The friend who always listens to my meltdowns
before asking me to send down supplies and medicine. The third Executive Petty Officer, who told me "we are not going to be BFFs." As it turns out. We are BFFs. The young people I have held in my arms, when their sorrow outweighed my own. The First and Second Class Petty Officers,
who lead by example. And when I say lead
by example, I mean that they would get underway with pneumonia before they
missed a day of work. (For the record,
that’s a terrible example to set.) The gate and her people have taught me a
lot. And reminded me a lot about what’s
important.
Journey.
These people are mine.
Nobody can ever take that away. They
are part of the reason that I am heartbroken over having to leave this
job. But they are also the reminder that
I had a purpose here. Even when I get
discouraged and question my direction. I
will always have the memory of these people to bring a smile, and maybe some
solace, to my heart. They are part of my
journey…They are part of my inner peas.
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