TechPublishing Now MS Certified

TechPublishing Now MS Certified
Professor Robert McMillen, MBA Microsoft Certified Trainer and Solutions Expert

Friday, September 28, 2012

Almost two weeks ago

I got the call from Koin Channel 6 reporter Chad Carter. I thought it would be a typical Monday morning but it was anything but. He asked me if I knew about Fritz. Fritz Hayes was recently retired from our company. We threw him a big retirement luncheon and thanked him for the past 6 years in helping us grow our business. I asked him what he meant. He told me he was sorry to be the one to have to tell me but Fritz was murdered just a couple of hours ago.

I told him that couldn't be, but he said he had the address and they spoke with the police. Although they didn't want to officially give out his name he knew if was Fritz that was hacked to death with a machete by a piece of trash named Meiser.

So many thoughts went through my head. I started to feel guilty that I was bummed it was a Monday filled with work and more work. I started to think about how my day started with showering and shaving and being on a radio interview all the while Fritz was battling for his life.

The rest of the week was horrible for us at the office but worse of course for his family and friends. This past Sunday we went to the memorial and I was pretty much going to make it until I saw his damned hat he always wore. That finally made it real to me.

Fritz and I had an unusual way of communicating. We yelled at each other a lot. I don't even know why except that we saw the world from two totally different perspectives although, we usually came to the same conclusion. Despite this we both had tremendous respect for each other. Our relationship started out with him being my boss. When I hired him years later he never forgave me for that. But that's ok because we did a lot of business together over the years and we had lots of laughs and good times.

I wish I could get that hat. I would put it up in my office to remind me of what he was to our company and our lives. Even more so I wish I had him there so maybe I could just get one more argument in, and maybe this time I would win.