珍珠妹就是我.......

I scare myself sometimes.

All day today, my inner voice kept telling me to call this client to check up on her.  She's in her 70's, has been a client of ours for years, and I worry about her sometimes.  Her husband passed away right after the New Year in 09, and she's been mourning ever since.  For years, she has always been a perfect client:  easy-going and well organized.  When she came to sign her tax returns and write checks for the taxes owed, she bursted into tears, because it was the first year that she had to sign those documents without her husband.

My heart went out to her.  Even though we see her and talk to her only a few times a year, and normally in March, her name kept coming to my mind.  I warn myself not to cross the professional line, and that she is a client.  Any wrong move on my part could cause my job.

However, when that inner voice kept telling me to call her today, I could no longer ignore it.  I waited till after 5, picked up the phone, and dialed her number.  Part of me hoped that her voice would be much more cheerful than the last time we spoke, which was a few weeks ago, but part of me knew that something was wrong. 

I hate to be right when it comes to this type of things.

She picked up, and the way she said hello immediately told me that something was most definitely wrong.  She had just lost a family member...

No wonder that inner voice was urging me to call her.

It was so hard to hold back my tears, but her sadness was so strong.  I knew that she needed someone to talk to, and I've known that she felt lonely after her husband's passing.  So I let her vent, and offered my condolences. 

She sounded like she was nearly drowned by all the sadness, and I just hope that the phone call helped taking some of it out.  Although now some of that sadness has been transferred to me, and nearly consuming me, I know that making the call was the right thing to do... that's the least I could do.