The Long Story: A few days before the girls and I went to Florida, Brian received word that he had lost his job at GlaxoSmithKline. There were rumors for a few months that there might be some major "restructuring" in GSK Research & Development. Then the company sent out an email confirming the rumors. (At this point, Brian went ahead and started a job search as well as applied for other open jobs within the company.) Then they had a meeting and found out that R & D would lose half of it's chemists, but not to worry because R & D in infectious diseases & oncology had 12 jobs to take up the slack. Then the day before Brian's "D Band" big meeting, the "C Band" didn't lose many people. Uh oh. And, sure enough. Brian's Band went down to 10 from 25. Even Brian's good friend Darryl (who is African American AND had been at the company more than 20 years) was let go.
What a shame. I think our friend Nick Oberlies said it best: "Noelle: I am very sorry to learn this news. It makes me so mad that I cannot use the words I would like to use to express my frustration and anger and disappointment and fatigue with the upper management of major pharma. In short, what a bunch of dumb, short sighted, assholes. I hope that you will pardon my French. Tell Brian to keep a stiff upper lip. It is rare for a med chem advertisement to come across my desk. But, I will email you if/when I hear of any thing even close to his job description. With respect to jobs in the state of NC, I suggest perusing the website of NC Biotech. It is their mission to keep jobs in this state, and perhaps they know of something. Good luck. Nick" What a shame that this company didn't recognize either Brian's amazing skill at his profession OR his extreme loyalty to GSK. Here was a man who would have been working there until he died. Long story short, it's GSK's loss. And we will never be buying another product from them. The Tums are going out the window.
On more emotional terms, this caused great tragedy in our family. It hit Brian right away with tears and repetition of, "This isn't what I wanted. This isn't what I wanted!" But I held out hope (as the girls and I went to Florida, which delayed my reaction) that there were "many" jobs in the area for Brian to get. Those were including the ones at GSK. Now we see there are only three or four real possibilities in the triangle, . . . . none of whom have gotten back to Brian about his application. It was when we returned from Florida that the reality hit me and I fell into despair. Just as a little comparison, there was only one other time in my life where I was this depressed, and that was when Joel, the tuba player, broke up with me at Furman. And that depression lasted two years + (because at that point, I thought I was losing my whole possibility of married life, . . . . oh, if I had only known about Brian then). This time, I will always have Brian, Leia, and Annie (my main joys)! Therefore, this time my despair only lasted for three full days full of tears, of moments when I wasn't crying when I felt like a deflated balloon, . . . and every moment held a tradition or an experience that we would never be able to have again. I had found the perfect blueberry patch, the perfect place to visit Santa Claus, the perfect go-and-see-the-cows outing, the perfect outdoor Sunday music, etc. etc. And WORST OF ALL my parents had already bought land only 40 minutes away! *sigh* This isn't even to MENTION how beholden I am to this house, . . . to which I brought both children home after birth, . . . on a totally private wooded lot. *sigh* We are going to have to do it all again. All of it. And THAT is what is daunting. At this point now, we are simply letting God lead us to where He wants us to be. We are at the objective and practical point now, where we start distancing ourselves. ("Look at this gross wood floor. . . . Next time we're picking the carpet we WANT upstairs, . . . These ticks are horrible. . . . etc., etc.") Brian had a fabulous interview in Forence with job openings both there and in Greenville, both places are about 1 hr. from Grandma and Grandpa and about 3 hrs. from where Oma and Papa plan to live. But, dear Lord, we REALLY prefer Greenville. ; ) And what would be REALLY crazy is if he DOES get one of those jobs in the Triangle, . . . and nothing changes at all.
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So, this is where you'll find me most of the time these days: at Perpetual Adoration. And for some reason, St. Therese still insists on giving me roses (see them under the Tabernacle?) which originally, I mistakenly thought, meant that Brian wouldn't lose his job. Now I think she's just trying to show me that God has a special Will for me. There are other pieces of scripture I am clinging to as well. I wrote this message to a friend recently: "Thanks so much for your words of encouragement. Yes, it took me a few days to get over the initial shock (and anger) of the whole thing (not to mention how poor BRIAN is feeling about the job loss). But now I am back in the vein of remaining open to God's Will, . . . and fervently praying and turning to scripture for guidance (and often can be found at Perpetual Adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament). These days it's Joshua 1:9, Jeremiah 29:11, and most especially Luke 12:22-31 for some reason. But it's the Serenity Prayer that has truly become my mantra. ; )"Dear Lord, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
The courage to change the things I can;
And the wisdom to know the difference.
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