Unfortunately, saying thank you seems to be an after thought more and more. So at least once a month, I will take a few minutes to publicly appreciate someone that has had an impact on me.
This round: Amy Chu
I have many people in the software development industry that I would refer to as my friend. I met them within context of the industry: maybe we worked together, maybe we met at a conference, etc. Yet, I also have friends that knew me before my career began.
I met Amy in 1997. We were both in Women in Engineering and both in need a roommate for half of 1998. A mutual friend connected us and the beginning of an amazing friendship started.
Over the years, a number of my personal (non-work related) friends have begun attending my events, conferences, trainings, etc. I’ve loved every minute of bringing these worlds together but a few weeks ago, Amy managed to explode my mind. I was sharing an issue that I was having in the Agile community – one where I knew she had met some of the people involved. Honestly, I was sharing to talk it out loud myself but then Amy dropped a huge aha moment in my lap…she remembered when I first met someone. She had been there. She had remembered our conversations right after meeting this person. She was able to jolt a part of my memory that I wasn’t accessing but needed to desperately to move forward in this issue. I know I thanked her a few times on that call alone but this public thank you seemed necessary. Sometimes we forget things and having friends that span years with you – helps put everything into perspective.
So thank you for being a part of all of my worlds.
Tricia
Picture from Facebook
