Our little Jackie has had trips to Ethan's work ever since she was teeny tiny. Ethan works for NetApp a computer engineering company in Wichita. They have had various family events that we have attended and she was able to go with him to the latest "take your kid to work day." She loves it.
And she also loves Jackie. Ethan's manager, whom our "little Jackie" has met multiple times in her trips to NetApp. Even though "big Jackie" is no longer his direct manager, they still bump into each other in the hallways. The conversation almost always ends up talking about kids. The most recent chance meeting involved talking about "little Jackie" enjoying school and even still asking her daddy if he still gets to see "big Jackie."
The next thing we knew, "big Jackie" had written a sweet little note to our little Kindergartner about working hard in school and becoming a smart woman so she can make a difference.
Now...I'm not an over-sentimental person. I don't typically get teary-eyed at the different milestones my kids go through (yet). But this made me want to cry.
Here is a woman, working in a managerial type of position, who probably had a plateful of work to attend to, and she took time out of her day to encourage and mentor my little 5 (almost 6 year old). To me...this was powerful.
I have no idea if our little Jackie will want to be a computer engineer like her daddy or a teacher like her mommy, or a lawyer at a powerful firm, or a refrigerator repair-woman, but I know that I want her working for someone like "big Jackie" at a place like NetApp that values family and encourages young girls to become strong women and make a positive difference.
My heart melts and it makes me smile every time I think about it.
Thank you, "big Jackie" for more than you know.
And she also loves Jackie. Ethan's manager, whom our "little Jackie" has met multiple times in her trips to NetApp. Even though "big Jackie" is no longer his direct manager, they still bump into each other in the hallways. The conversation almost always ends up talking about kids. The most recent chance meeting involved talking about "little Jackie" enjoying school and even still asking her daddy if he still gets to see "big Jackie."
The next thing we knew, "big Jackie" had written a sweet little note to our little Kindergartner about working hard in school and becoming a smart woman so she can make a difference.
Now...I'm not an over-sentimental person. I don't typically get teary-eyed at the different milestones my kids go through (yet). But this made me want to cry.
Here is a woman, working in a managerial type of position, who probably had a plateful of work to attend to, and she took time out of her day to encourage and mentor my little 5 (almost 6 year old). To me...this was powerful.
I have no idea if our little Jackie will want to be a computer engineer like her daddy or a teacher like her mommy, or a lawyer at a powerful firm, or a refrigerator repair-woman, but I know that I want her working for someone like "big Jackie" at a place like NetApp that values family and encourages young girls to become strong women and make a positive difference.
My heart melts and it makes me smile every time I think about it.
Thank you, "big Jackie" for more than you know.
