"Don't you curse at me, Mr. Brown," Deidre retorted, "You're the one
who owes money to our business for the service we provided. You
received the service, now you must pay for it. How will you do that?

 

Deidre Trullingworth was the picture of strength and determination,
though short tempered at times.                                               

 
Deidre was six feet tall and bore a body that was just right, not too

fat and not too thin. Her beautiful shiny, silk long hair, dark tanned
  skin,and jade green eyes made her look younger.  Her drive was       
  well suited to managing the largest event planning business in Coeur
 d'Alene, Idaho. She loved her job;in fact, she loved interacting with 
   people so much she could hardly stay away. Part of her job was to     
collect on overdue accounts. Her boss, Mark Makesithappen, and    
co-workers liked Deidre.                                                           

 

Sometimes she succeeded in getting customers to commit to paying the
bill, but not always. Deidre didn't let those toughies get her spirit down.
She'd put them off for a few weeks and then try again, never giving up.  

 

Mark was an easygoing type. He knew that holding the title of owner of  
  the business didn't make him better than the rest. The employees adored
him and felt lucky to work for someone they could speak to with ease.  
Mark appreciated his staff's work performance and realized that without 

  them he wouldn't be where he was.                                                     

Elizabeth, a new employee, met Deidre when she joined the business as
part of their administrative support team. Elizabeth's job was to enter   
accounts into the business database and pull weekly overdue account    
     reports for Deidre to work on. At first Elizabeth saw Deidre as self-centered,
  cold, demanding and uninviting. She kept away from her except when she
 had to deliver the reports.                                                                

        Less than two years had passed since Elizabeth met Deidre when she noticed
       something different in the office. Deidre wasn't there and it seemed strange
          that she failed to appear the next day and the next as if she had disappeared
from earth.                                                                                  

        Shortly after, Mark called the staff together and everyone bore a questioning
       look in his eyes as if to say "What's going on?" Mark stood there looking at
     his staff. After five minutes of silence Mark said, "You've all noticed that  
     Deidre has been out for a while. Unfortunately, I must tell you that she is
very ill, she had surgery and it doesn't look good.                            

        Deidre has cancer and will be undergoing chemotherapy. There is a problem,
       though, she is determined to continue working in the office during this time
      but I don't want her being here, to endanger her health. I need your advice
 to come up with a plan that would enable her to do so." Mark looked at

    everyone, as he waited for a response. Suggestions started coming forth.

 

 "Why not set her up so she can telecommute?" suggested Erica.          

 

     "That won't work," said Jackie. "She's determined to come into the office."

 

 "We can't have her in the same room with us," said Jill. "There are too
many germs in here."                                                                                                    

 

  "Well, there isn't much we could do," added Dion, "unless…" and looked
Mark in the eyes.                                                                         

 

     Mark got the message and suggested, "How would you guys feel if I gave
up my office to Deidre and came to work in here with you?                

 

  The employees were stunned.                                                                                      

 

"Would Mark really do that?" they wondered.                                   

 

      Then all together they let out a loud "Mark's our man of the day" and they
all set out to help in the preparations.                                           

 

        Mark had his office repainted and cleaned with Lysol. He had the employees
        clean their stations and placed Lysol spray in the restrooms. The employees

      were instructed in germ reduction techniques and how they could make it a
pleasant experience for Deidre.                                                       

 

   The news was hardest to bear for Elizabeth, herself a cancer survivor,but
 Deidre amazed her with how she handled her illness. Deidre's positive  
  attitude and inner strength portrayed her as a fighter on a battle field  
determined to win. She became a true role model for many who got to
  know her.                                                                                     

 

Summer was drawing to an end and almost a year had passed. It was
then that Deidre surprised us all.                                                   

 

     "My cancer has responded well to the treatment and I went into remission
    sooner than expected. That means that I'll be back at my old desk doing
what I like surrounded by all of you wonderful people very soon.        

 

All together the employees cried out "Thanks to Mark Makesithappen"
He's our man."