Remembering Ava

 At the beginning of 2001, I started a new job in a new town. My manager and I had both been brought in to start a new store. I was excited. I had left my last job because of personality conflicts with my coworkers. No one was getting along. I dreaded going to work wondering if I was going to get another day of the silent treatment.
  This time it would be different. My new manager was a man named Scott. He, his wife Ava and two young children had moved from Iowa. He had been a manager for several years. I had spoken to him briefly and liked him. I was sure we'd get along. Joining the staff was our tech, Gana. Gana was my age with three children. I liked her too.
   Scott had asked me to get acquainted with Ava. He and Ava had lived in Iowa near their families since they'd graduated from college. This was the first time Ava had moved away from them. He was worried that she would feel alone. I was happy to do this. It was something I was planning on doing anyway. I was single at the time and I thought it would be a good idea for Ava to get to know me so that she would know who her husband was working with. I didn't want her to feel insecure.
  Since we were working in a new store it wasn't busy right away. That gave Scott and I plenty of time to get acquainted. We talked about everything. We discussed books, college classes and places we'd lived. Scott talked to me about pharmaceutical pricing and how he liked to manage. We talked about past jobs. Scott talked about Ava and how they met, dated and married.
   I listened to Scott when he talked about Ava. They had a really good relationship. Both of them were pharmacists and had met while in pharmacy school.  They started off as friends. Now that they were married, they were still friends and partners.  I wasn't planning of getting married. I had  decided that the only men in my life were going to be relatives and coworkers. If I did get married though, I'd want to have the kind of relationship that Ava and Scott had.
  I spent time with Ava too. On a day when Scott was working, while the children were in school we would have lunch or go out to tea. Ava was quiet and we were both shy with each other at first. I learned a little about their marriage from Ava's point of view. I still had no plans to marry, but decided I wasn't going to settle for anything less than the kind of marriage that Scott and Ava had.
   A few years went by and I met C. I talked about him a little bit at work. Scott was surprised when I came to work wearing a small garnet solitaire on my left hand. I casually mentioned that it was an engagement ring.
  I had lunch with Ava a time or two while I was engaged. I picked her brain about her wedding. I hadn't planned on getting married so I really had no idea of what to do. All the magazines I was reading talked about wedding styles, colours and venues. It was good to talk to Ava who was down to earth and practical.
  She and Scott were invited to the wedding. They had a good time. In fact they told me that they had never had so much fun at a wedding before. It turned out that my wedding day was also their wedding anniversary.
  A year so later Scott accepted a job with another pharmacy. A few months after he left I went else where too. It turned out that we worked near each other. I would sometimes stop by to say hi to him and update him on what I was doing. I hoped that maybe somehow we would get to work together again.
   My hope came true. Scott had lost his staff pharmacist and asked if I wanted to work with him again. Boy did I ever. I was working as a pharmacy manager and wasn't happy. Management is not for me. I was hired to work at his store. It was wonderful. We had a good team.
   Then something happened. Eight years ago today, Scott worked the day shift. He had left for the day. I was working on something at the computer when the phone rang. I answered it. It was Scott. I could hardly recognize his voice. He'd just got home and had found out that Ava had been killed in a car accident. He told me to call the district manager to arrange for another pharmacist to cover his shifts. I was speechless. I really didn't know what to say. I told Scott that I would take care of the pharmacy and he should concentrate on what he needed to do.
  I called the DM immediately. Coverage was arranged. The rest of the night the tech and I were in shock. I wondered how Scott was going to manage. Ava was the center of his world. How was he going to raise those two children alone?
  The next few days were a blur. The DM had arranged coverage so the entire staff and I would be able to attend Ava's memorial service. The DM himself attended the service along with his wife. Neither of them had met Ava, but they wanted to show support. There was a small lunch afterwards. Each of the tables had chocolate on them.  I smiled inwardly.I knew Ava loved chocolate.
  Scott decided that he was going to work the rest of the school year. Then he was going to move back to Iowa. His family was there and so was Ava's. He would have help with the children. As much as I didn't want him to leave I knew it was best.
   C and I took him out to dinner before he left. We had a good time. As much as he said he would stay in touch, I knew he wouldn't. I felt sad, I understood that he needed to move on. I was always going to be a reminder of Ava.
  Scott had a house built in Iowa. It was almost finished the last time I talked to him which was on the one year anniversary of Ava's accident. I later found out that he remarried. From what I heard he was happy and well. 
  I have so many good memories of Ava. I remember  having tea with her and being unable to hear what she said because we were seated in a room with a bunch of Red Hats who were being very loud. I remember her having tea at my house and  I served it to her in a teacup that had shamrocks on it in honor of her maiden name, Murphy. I remember her telling me not to have red frosting on my wedding cake because red frosting tastes bad. I still have the cat shaped cream pitcher that she gave me. I still think of her from time to time and when I do, I miss her....