It wasn't something I woke up to, but I'd left my phone in my bedroom all day, and decided to check it in the early afternoon. I had a missed call from my workplace, and there was a voicemail from the head of HR, leaving her cell number and asking me to call her back as soon as I could. It was a Sunday, so it was very odd (I work in retail so my work was open, but I don't work on weekends), and naturally I panicked, thinking I was being fired or something. So, I called her back, and she told me that my boss had passed away. He had been sick for a while, and from what I've been told, doctors weren't really sure what was wrong with him - I think it was kind of a multitude of health issues. It wasn't unusual for him to leave work early or to be out sick, and he had been out of work the entire week before he passed, but no one knew he was that sick. It was shocking for me and all of my coworkers, and I was absolutely speechless when she told me he'd died.

And then, three months later, I got a call from our CEO one Friday afternoon after I'd left work to let me know that another coworker had passed away. The CEO was calling everyone in my dept who wasn't at work when they found out, so we wouldn't find out the next time we arrived at work (same reason I got a call to tell me my boss died rather than finding out at work first thing Monday morning). She had heart problems for the majority of her life, and she'd had some complications from a surgery she had the year before. I was actually pretty close to her (my work bff, I guess), so it was devastating for me. I'd spoken to her on the phone probably 3-4 weeks before she passed, and I could tell from what she was saying to me that she knew she didn't have much time left. I'm so angry with myself for not getting a chance to visit her (she was in hospice care when she died) one more time.

So... yeah. 2014 was kind of rough for my department at work.