Sam is Having a Birthday

I have worked with Sam for 11 years.  I consider him a good friend.  I hold the people I work with very close to my heart..  After all, we see them more than our family.  They are my extended family.  Since Wacker announced the closing of our site it has been sad around the office.  We know not only will our jobs come to an end, but also seeing the people we see everyday.  People that have shared there sad times and there good times together.

We have also lost 2 our our co-workers in the last month to suicide.  It is not like we needed anything else to dampen our spirits..  Wacker paid for a counsler to come in and speak with us on the deaths of our co-workers.  The sucides happened about 3 weeks apart..  I am not sure if it helped or not but I saw a few men tear up and I know it has affected us all.  Some are mad and some just don't understand. 

God gave me the gift of encouragement - so I have definitely put it to work.. I decided I would bake a cake and make the birthdays here very special. I also suggested that we meet once a week just to get us all in one room that way we can keep an eye on each other and see what state of mind people are in. Oh we are not shy around here.  We speak our minds pretty much so...

It was Sam's birthday on Wednesday.  It snuck up on me but we took him to lunch anyway.  I baked a cake last night and will celebrate again today.   I will add a couple of pics to the post when we cut the cake...

Sam is a great guy.  He is a wonderful husband to Elaine and a great father to his son Chris.  I have saw him mellow out in the last few years... His bark is loud, but deep down he is a softee. I am thankful the Lord allowed my path to cross with Sam.... When we part our seperate ways I know that he will always be a special friend. 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM!!!!