HUMBERTO MURRIETTA

I have blogged about the people I work with before. We all agree that we don't love the job or the company, but we love our work family. Today that is even more true than ever before. 

For quite a while now I have been in a pod with all boys. I have missed having women to chit chat with, but I love the boys on my team. Humberto and I have been sitting together for nearly a year. Our chairs collide all day long and we are the 'turn to' person for the other, if there is a question. When there is a lull in service levels it's Humberto I chat with. 

He answers every call by saying his name in a way that makes it sound like it's a song. He said that his brother and sister have typical American names, but he was named after his dad. I always thought his name fits him perfectly, although I would never say it out-loud, because he hums constantly. Whenever he concentrates he hums. Not really a tune that you would recognize, just a bit of a hum. He isn't conscious of it I don't think. He even does in when he is on the phone with his clients. I did some research years ago, about concentration, and how some people do little things like bite their lip, tongue or even hum when they are concentrating, and this helps them focus. I told Humberto I had researched this, because I have children that are deep thinkers and tongue biters, and he was surprised. He said he thought he was just odd. I told him he was just using more brain power to concentrate, and humming to keep out the rest of the world. I think his name is perfect for him. .

Working so closely, you learn things about your co-workers, even when your co-workers are private people. I have learned that Humberto is very protective of his father, and worries that his sibling will take advantage of him. I have learned that Humberto, like most of us, would also get burned out on making dinners, because menu planning sucks. I also leaned that he is very lonely. I had read an article while waiting at for an appointment, that talked about a loneliness being an epidemic in Americans between aged 40-55. I shared the article with him. I think it only depressed both of us more. 

Humberto started losing weight. He is a thin guy to start with, I figured it was because he was under stress; house repair, family issues and work. Then he stopped eating. He just wasn't feeling well. He kept saying he would go to the doctor, but he just didn't. Then one day he left work early (2/21). I am glad he had taken my cell number, but I didn't have his, so I knew nothing! A day or two later Humberto texted me, he said he would be out of work two weeks. He was seeing a doctor. I texted back, and thanked him, told him I would pass the word to Carolyn (work family), and to please keep me posted. 

March 4th, Humberto let me know he had been put in the hospital with an infection in both lungs. He wasn't sure how long he would be there. Just letting us know. I did't want to pester him too much. I know he likes to stay private. So I would send a text once a week. But when I got back to work after taking a week off for spring break with the kids, and Humberto still wasn't back and no one had heard from him I started to panic. My texts got more frequent, and so did the bosses phone calls.

Sunday March 30th, I got a text from his niece. She let me know he was not doing well. That he misses his work family. That he was still in the hospital, but they were hoping to get him to hospice soon. 

(Hospice....what for????) I thanked his niece and asked her to please keep us posted, and let us know if we could do anything to help.

Connie, my team leader, got the phone call Monday night, that Humberto had passed away. Yesterday our team was pulled into a meeting at 8:30am the next morning so we would all hear the news together. The news was given very nicely, our department manager let us all know. All the team leaders were there. They had a grief counselor on sight for us, we all had time off to digest the information. Funny how a huge conference room suddenly seems so claustrophobic. Watching each one of my associates grieve and cope in their own way was hard. Watching Ronnie was the hardest, it hit him the hardest. He shares our pod, he has a new baby boy. Life is so very precious to Ronnie right now, it was like he was raw. The hardest however, would be Carolyn. She wasn't at work, she was out for a few days. Carolyn and Humberto are very close work family, and she will be crushed. 

This morning 14 of our work family took time off to pay our respect to Humberto. It was not my first funeral by far. But it was the first funeral of a friend. And even though I was told many times that there is really no death, just moving on, I can tell you that my heart is still broken. I kept my composure until I returned from the viewing, the man in the casket did not look like my friend, that made it easier. But the photos of him being played on the screens above, they were him. They showed how fun and real and wonderful he was. That was so hard. Hugging each work family member, letting them know that they are loved, that was emotional. They played "Somewhere over the rainbow", it seemed to fit Humberto. 

I love my work family. 

We had all talked many weeks ago about doing an out of bank activity, Humberto said he just didn't want to go to the movies, but he was okay with anything else. Well the movies would have been far better. 

Humberto will be forever missed.