My name is Heather Goudy. I want to tell you a story about my parents, who were married for 61 years. Oh, they loved each other. Nearly every important lesson I ever learned about life, I learned from them. My momma passed a couple of years ago, she was 82 and my daddy about a year after her, he was 84. I just don’t think he could bear to be without her.
It was the hardest time. My kids were all out of the house, living their own lives. But you make it through, mostly with the love of your friends and family. And it’s in the tough times that you find out who people really are. Let me tell you a story to explain what I mean.
Not long after my father died, my husband Lee and I were talking about moving to the beach, just to get away from the emotional pain and stress of my parents’ passing. My family has been going down to the Ft. Morgan area since I was little and it’s always been an escape for us. We just thought we’d make it permanent.
I was in the Hoover branch at Avadian — my daddy opened my first checking account for me there in 1980 when I was a teenager! He always said you can tell a lot about people by the way they treat you when you can’t really do anything for them. And the people at the branch always treated me like I was the most important person in the building, even when I was just a kid.
Anyway, I was in the Hoover branch one day talking to Pam about our move. Everybody in that branch has always been so nice to us, they were really upset that we were moving. It was very sweet, kind of sad but really sweet.
When I went back there yesterday, do you know what they did? They surprised us with a housewarming gift for the beach house. It’s a beautiful door hanger, the perfect color and everything. She said she was so sorry about my parents and our leaving, that they would miss us so much.
I just stood in Pam’s office and cried. She gave me the biggest hug. It’s like my daddy said, about people. I mean, we are hardly the most important members of our credit union, but they sure treat us like we are. We may be moving to the beach, but I promise you we are never moving away from Avadian.