Proof of love #50

“There is no love, only proofs of love.” Pierre Reverdy

As I went to the office to return my computer and 16-year old identification badge on my last day of work, it was strange to see the remnants of a bustling pre-COVID work life along with the accumulation of a one year vacancy.

I collected returned mail placed on my desk, recycling the thoughtful package we had created for front office staff at clinics across California. A sadness, not to be confused with regret, as I wistfully recalled what was, fast forwarding to what now is, wondering what will be.

As I placed my work computer and badge on the office managers desk amidst piles of junk mail, a handwritten envelope caught my eye. Addressed to me and with a return address from a dear colleague I had not been in touch with for over a year. They first with a heartbreaking transition, then the world with the grief and disruption of COVID, and my own journey of completing one phase to begin on the next. The postmark showed this card had been sent several months prior. As I opened the envelope and read the card, the timing could not be more perfect. The one thing I would take as I left the building, closing one chapter.

I am amazed at the ways we are connected. The ways we show up for each other. The way these small things, the little acts of kindness, become the watershed moments.