My team at work kicks off the week with a quick meeting almost every Monday morning. It’s a quick 15-minute call where we cover the highlights of the upcoming week and who has a birthday or anniversary. Last week was our first one of the new year, and we all expected welcome back pleasantries.

Instead, we were informed that a coworker had lost her husband suddenly the previous day. The news was so fresh, there hadn’t been time for the rumor mill to start spreading it first. My heart sank immediately, and I was glad I wasn’t on camera. This is her loss, but it brought up so many feelings for me.

Is this how my department found out Tony died? On a video call? (It took me a week to realize since Tony died on a Tuesday, the word would have spread well before the next week.) The first day back to work after break and I could barely read my emails. My thoughts kept swirling to her and what she was going through in those first days of disbelief.

However, I work at a place that really shows up well for each other. Teams quickly started to gather funds to send helpful gifts and gift cards. Our leadership team was looking for suggestions, and I volunteered my ‘Grief Guru’ tips. They used all of them.

I’m so sad that she is part of this club with me now. But I hope I helped our team show up for her the best way possible. Nothing can fix it, but we can make sure she has a stack of paper plates and doesn’t have to wash dishes.