Proverbs 15:3

“Do you have experience in telecommunications? Joie Giese inquired of the prospective employee.
“Yes, most certainly,” said Merrilee Woeber, trying to put her best foot forward.

“Could you tell me about the places where you have worked and the sorts of jobs you have had?” asked Joie.
Merrilee described her work history, and Joie listened carefully. As supervisor at Network MCI Conferencing, Joie prided herself on creating a dynamic and friendly workforce in charge of several company projects. She sought to hire men and women of the highest caliber who add to the positive work ethic that she tried to foster.
So it was without hesitation that Joie decided to hire Merrilee.

Joie ended the interview with the exact words that Merrilee hoped to hear: “Welcome aboard!”
Merrilee began working for the company almost immediately. The two women became good friends as well as colleagues. They discovered that they had an uncanny similarity in tastes.
“Look at that,” said Merrilee as she placed her ring next to Joie’s. Joie was amazed; they both broke into laughter. From the infinite variety of diamond rings available, both women had chosen rings of yellow gold, with identical channel diamonds around the band and a diamond in the center.

One year after being hired, Merrilee was promoted to supervisor. Her desk was within earshot of Joie’s office. Shortly thereafter, Merrilee was working at her desk one afternoon when she overheard Joie chatting with a few coworkers on break.

Then Joie mentioned in passing something that Merrilee had not known: She had been adopted. Joie said she knew little about her biological parents, but she loved her adoptive parents for the abundant love they had given her.
“Do you know your nationality?” One woman asked. “I believe I’m Irish,” replied Joie. “The only thing I know about my biological mother is her name. It was Dunne, which is Irish.”

Merrilee stopped typing. She got up and walked right into Joie’s office. “My maiden name is Dunne”, she said, and then added with a spark of hope, “maybe we’re cousins. Where were you born?”

“Here in Davenport,” replied Joie.
“That’s where I’m from,” said Merrilee, eyebrows raised. “When were you born?”
“In 1946,” replied Joie.
“I was born in 1945!”
Merrilee and Joie both felt a mounting sense of excitement. “Do you know your biological mother’s full name? asked Merrilee.
“Lenore Dunne,” said Joie.
“NO!” Merrilee was incredulous. “Are you sure you didn’t perhaps just pick up that name from my files?” “Of course not!” Joie assured her. “That’s the name on my adoption papers.”

That afternoon, Joie made a dash to her safety deposit box in the bank to retrieve the adoption papers she had received when she turned eighteen. Merrilee, at the same time, looked for a signature from her mother, now deceased. The two women caught up with each other, placed the two signatures side by side, and then simultaneously let out a thrilling cry.

It was unmistakable. They were not only related, they were sisters.
Each had no knowledge of the other, until now, over half a century later, when they discovered one another while working side by side.

Comment:
Never worry about you past, or let it get you down. We are all created for a purpose, and God has a way of making things right, as happened in the case of Joie and Merrilee. You don’t have to travel the world over in search of happiness. You can find it wherever you are, in your place of work, in your home, in your heart.

Fr. Hugh Duffy