Hello. You may remember me from a previous post in which I'd had a spot of bother with HR. This update is pretty tough to write. My mom passed away two days before my birthday. I know what some of you will expect, regarding HR's response to this, but the update is going to disappoint those of you who expect the worst out of a notoriously dreaded department. I have to give that previous HR rep credit: when I said I was leaving because my mother was about to pass away, she did not stop me, she did not raise a fuss, she did not get in my way and she told me to take all the family leave time I needed. HR did the right thing here and I gladly acknowledge when the “Human” part of Human Resources is visible.
This update is less about HR and more about the lesson I've learned about 'working hard' from my mom's passing. My mother was a doctor who taught nursing for over 30 years. She was extraordinarily gifted, focused, dedicated and demanded excellence from me in whatever I chose to do. She worked incredibly hard and amassed a significant fortune, including a retirement fund of which she never got to spend a dime. I burn inside when I think of how hard she struggled between cancer, a disloyal, adulterous, misogynist husband (dad), a troubled son with at-the-time undiagnosed autism and ADHD (me), and a field that often disparaged her because of her skin color and country of origin. All she wanted to do was to enjoy retirement. It's all I wanted for her. Instead, she passed away without getting to enjoy her life to the fullest.
To that point, she named me the sole beneficiary of her entire estate. I now no-longer require work. My wife, who grew up very poor, is having difficulty understanding and accepting this reality. I'm not quite sure I was so deserving, but her final gift to me has been so overwhelming that I cannot believe myself worthy of it. So, now I find myself in a position that I never thought I'd be in. I want to live by my mom's example, while also taking the lessons of her loss to heart. I'm going to live modestly, but and have fun where I can. I'm going to leave my current job and I'll continue to write, sing, voice act and create full time, on my terms. Finally, I'm going to finally have a honeymoon with my patient, wonderful wife.
tl;dr I owe my mom more than I could possibly imagine and I'll never forget what she's done for me for the rest of my life.
Also, she didn't leave my dad a dime. He doesn't know, yet, but he's gonna absolutely flip out. She really played the long game with him and I laugh whenever I think about her methodical patience.