Stuart Ainsworth(LinkedIn) and Tim Radney(LinkedIn) came up with an idea on how to express being thankful for specific individuals who have helped you somehow throughout your careers. I thought this was an amazing idea. We all hear about some of these folks for their technical aptitudes, but I don’t know if we hear enough about how they are awesome humans as well. I am going to try and do one of these every Thursday for folks that have helped me, guided me, or just listened to me over my career. The first person I have to call out is, Monica Rathbun(LinkedIn). I have known Monica for about 10 years now. She helped me get my original blog post edited, and help me get my original SQL presentation ready for a live audience. She gave me great feedback, made some changes, and then promoted the blog post and presentation to her social media audience. Now, mind you, I had never met her at this point, we just talked through Twitter(now X). She responded to a tweet of mine seeking proofreading and guidance. Shortly after that, my battle buddy/great friend, Cookie, passed away in a car accident. I was devastated. I leaned on this man for ALOT. We discussed everything from our personal lives, professional lives, hopes and dreams, etc. Monica reached out when she heard about his passing to offer her condolences and I kinda just emotion dumped on her. She told me to reach out if I ever needed an ear to listen, or shoulder to lean on. I don’t know how she is still standing upright after me leaning on her so much over the years. 🙂 She has been an amazing mentor of mine. She has helped me realize my value as a data professional and was able to see writing on the wall at past jobs. She has helped cultivate my curiosity in data related topics. But…my best memory of Monica is when she and John Morehouse(LinkedIn) accoompanied me…in the snow…to the USMC memorial in Washington, D.C. to put a unit patch down at the site. My way of saying goodbye to Cookie, and to honor his memory. This was after a full day of presenting and being on their feet. We took an Uber to a weird side of a park, and the driver said he couldn’t get any closer so we walked through a field(again, in the snow), climbed over a construction fence, and helped me gather my emotions afterwards. She has opened her home to me when I would go down to present to her user group. She has 2 wonderful daughters that I consider my Nieces. She is the epitome of an awesome human being. Monica — You are one of the best people in this world, and I love yah! Post navigation Still Around! Thankful Thursday – 3/21/24
First and foremost, HEY JIM! Dude, we need to connect and catch up. It’s been way too long. Either I need to make a trip north or you need to come down south. What an amazing tribute to Monica and what a great way to honor Cookie. I absolutely love our community and how we are very much a family. Reply