Life In Transition

I got a call from Nessa last Monday asking if I would like to go with her to Oakland. She had our whole day planned; we would do some sight seeing and then meet Rob for lunch and then do some shopping and then meet Rob to go home. I thought that sounded nice. I have wanted to see where Rob works for quite some time. Have you heard of "Bring your kid to work day," well... this was "Bring your wife and mom to work day." The only drawback to all of this was that we would have to get up early so we could leave with Rob. It is a good thing I had a week to recuperate from my day trip to San Francisco.


As we walked up the stairs from the Bart, all you could see was this impressive big building, The Oakland Federal Building. This is where Rob works.


As I looked up and around at all of the surrounding buildings, all I could see was the detail.


The Tribune tower. It was a little overcast in the morning and still early as you can see by what time this clock said it was.


Clocks everywhere telling you what time it was and where you needed to be.

As we crossed the street to where he worked, he pointed to a lady getting off a bus. I noticed she was blind. She had dark glasses on and a walking stick. He told me he sees her every morning and has helped her in the building he works in and then another time he bought her a drink at Starbucks. I have noticed he takes note on what is happening around him. He was like this growing up, but I think even more so now and in a different way since he served in the military.



As we entered the building where Rob works, there was a park-like setting with benches and artsy sculptures. I wasn't allowed to take any pictures inside the building, but everywhere you looked there was granite and polished marble. As Rob, Nessa, and I cleared through security to go in the building, I was trying to process all of the events prior to entering the building and then trying to take the building itself in. I thought, 'This is what our son does every day when he goes to work. No wonder he is exhausted on the weekends and I hardly hear from him during the week.' It made me appreciate the texts I get periodically during the week telling me good morning, he loves and misses me or he was thinking about me.

He showed us what floor he works on and where his desk was. It was interesting to me, to see the pictures he had and what significant importance they had to him. He also had a collage of pictures of him and Nessa that I had never seen before, discreetly placed on the wall close to his computer. My son wears slacks, shirts and ties to work or an occasional suit, and by the collage of pictures a person could definitely get a different feel of who he was when he wasn't at work. I later told my daughter, I also noticed there were no photos of anyone else... just Nessa and him. I immediately thought about when I was his age or now for that matter, I don't have any photos of my parents up at work either just Charlie, my kids and our dogs. I also couldn't help but think about what it says in the bible, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined (cleave) with is wife, and they shall become one flesh" ~ Genesis 2:24. The parent-child relationship is a temporary one and there will be leaving. I've always known this is what happens, is natural and the way it is supposed to be, although I felt it for the first time that day in Oakland. It kinda made me sad and happy all at the same time.

He took us to several huge rooms and showed us row after row of shelves with files on them and explained that each file represented a veteran. I stood there in awe and have such deep respect for each and every file. They with many others have fought for our American freedom. Rob explained the files date as far back as World War One. Wow ~ I shared what I was thinking just standing in that room and Rob felt the same way. He works for the Veterans Benefits Administration Department and really loves his job. He just wishes he lived closer to work and I don't blame him.