Twenty-five years

After nineteen years of working with someone, it is difficult to imagine life without them, but that’s what I am faced with for Ruth is retiring. She has worked with two Kucera men for twenty–five years; the first six of those years Ruth worked with my dad at his State Farm office in Belle Plaine. With my dad just down the road in the same business, I called and visited his office frequently seeking guidance.

When Dad retired in 1996 my brother–in–law suggested that I ask Ruth to come and work with me in my office. I immediately loved the idea. However, apparently Ruth did not; she had other plans that did not include me. But, like any pushy salesman, I did not take no for an answer. After about six tries with increasingly higher stakes, I was able to convince her to make the drive north to Shakopee.

After just a few days of working with Ruth I knew it had been one of the best decisions I had ever made; it still is nineteen years later. She did all the right things: she worked hard, showed up on time and often came in early. She never complained – although I gave her much to complain about. Plus, she has been extremely loyal and laughed at most of my jokes.

But what I treasure most is the way Ruth treats people. She is patient and kind, never arrogant or rude, she does not insist on her own way and isn’t irritable or resentful. Ruth practices a way of treating people that is straight out of 1^st Corinthians, chapter 13. Her love of people is evident, and in return, people are drawn to her.

The business I’m in requires that many questions are asked of the person on the other side of the desk or phone. People opened up to Ruth easily and readily. Whether it was someone she had known most of her life or somebody she had just met, people would volunteer information usually reserved for a confessional or professional.

Ruth comes from a large family and married into a large one. Consequently, she is related to half the county. In fact, of the three people in my office (including myself), two are related. Whether the people hail from Union Hill or St. Benedict, she is able to keep it all straight. I may be one of the few for miles around that she cannot trace a relation back to her family.

It seems we spend our days working only to find out that when it’s over, it was the people that mattered.  “It’s the people I’ll miss,” she said, as she talked of her looming retirement. ‘Maybe not all of them,’ I thought, but that’s just me.

I believe some people make life burdensome, and you would be better off without them, whereas others add life to your years and help you to become a better person. That’s Ruth. Yet, I admit that even after nineteen years of working with her I still do not have her sense of compassion. Yet, I am not heartless, but soon I will be Ruth-less, and I will miss her.