Not all Bonuses are Payed in Cash

I  was reminded of Robin today...  She has been gone for a long time.  Yet when I think of her I am young again. It is still so easy to remember the night she walked into Rick's Van shop with her sister.  I  think I suffered a self-induced lobotomy when she first spoke to me...

I had become friends with Rick as I was working at my first paid woodworking job next door to his shop.  This was a job that I gave up a 114 dollar a week unemployment check which I had only collected 2 of 26 weeks,  and a summer of fun at the nearby beaches for.  Now at 19, I must have been so totally stupid,  or this was something I truly wanted to do... so I start at the bottom training to build custom butcher block furniture.

My reward was the enjoyment of working in a hot humid shop 40 hours a week and take-home pay of 112 dollars... if I was lucky I got a few extra hours to go with this at a time & a half.  Yes... if you do the math I took a 2 dollar a week pay cut to WORK 40 hours.   The upside...  I met Robin.

The time was short but even now the memories of her still make me smile.  You left this earth too soon Girl.