March Fools' Day?

I was laid off on March 11, two days after my birthday. I had been working for the same company for 14 years so this caused various reactions of shock among my family members when I gave them the news.

I am very close to my grandparents, so I wanted them to hear the news from me. My grandmother believes people should never stop learning. From the time I was a little girl, I admired her my professional savvy. She has a master’s degree in library science and she reads the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Meanwhile, my grandfather has the kindest heart of anyone I know. He owned his own business for several years and he is a great believer in customer service and doing the right thing for his clients.

My grandpa answered the phone when I called that day. I took a deep breath and parroted the news to Grandpa. He was incredulous. “I can’t believe that, Jill. What a mistake on their part!” When I got to the part of about my termination date being April 3, Grandpa misheard me. “April 1? Jill, is this an April Fools’ Joke?” he said. I recognized the tone in his voice. “Believe me, I am not joking, Grandpa!”

This would have just been one more odd conversation in an already strange day were it not for what happened a week later. I stopped by my grandparents' house to say hi and we ended up talking about how things were going. Grandpa cleared his throat and said, “I may have reacted badly to your news. This will turn out to be a great thing for you. And as quickly as you lost your job, that's as quickly as things can turn around.” On those days when I start to wonder where I am going, I remember this.