My friend Donna died last week. I was not able to attend her funeral, so this is my “Goodbye, you will be missed.” to Donna. As most of my contact with Donna was business related that is the perspective from which I write this article.
I started my business in 1989 setting up a RealWorld Point of Sale system on SCO Xenix for my very first client. No, Donna was not connected to that venture but she heard about me “through the grapevine” from the CPA that did work for that business. Soon after that job was over I was contacted by Donna to help with a problem on a multi-user DOS system (Either PC-MOS/386 or Concurrent DOS, I do not recall exactly.) at Baker Energy, Inc., a local small petroleum reseller that is now defunct. Donna was the in-house accountant for Baker Energy. Donna was a good small business accountant who “knew her stuff”. Later Baker Energy switched to the Factor accounting software for petroleum businesses running on IBM AIX Unix. I was called on by Donna to help with that too. From that first contact I developed a friendship with Donna that lasted over 20 years.
When Donna needed help with a tough computer problem I was the guy she called. We shared angst many times over crashed Microsoft Windows systems, cantankerous serial printers, backup failures and network communication problems. I guess you could say I was “Donna’s geek” when it came to Donna needing computer assistance. When Donna changed locations or changed jobs I was eventually called upon to come fix some computer problem at the new location. Donna also called on me to assist with her home PC several times. I could always count on a glass of Southern Tea (Meaning sweet and cold with ice of course.) or a cup of coffee (Black, no sugar, thank you.) and good conversation when I worked on Donna’s home PC.
The last time I worked on Donna’s home PC was to set up a new Microsoft Windows 7 based system given her by a relative. Donna gave me her old PC to do with as I please. I wiped it clean and installed Mandriva 2010 Linux on it to use as a demo system. It is still sitting here by my desk as I type this. This was late last year in 2009. Donna was finishing up cancer treatments for lung cancer and was very hopeful that she was well and it was over. Unfortunately, Donna was not well and it was not over until last week when Donna passed away while at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, TN. At least now Donna is not having to go through all that pain. For that I thank God.
Donna, goodbye my friend. You will be missed.
| university of phoenix |
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