Tuesday, June 5, 2018
I was Tamika's job coach for 2 years and during this time we established a very strong bond. Every Monday morning I went to her job at Chili's and would spend 1-2 hours with her. When I would pull up to the Chili's parking lot, Tamika would be holding the door open with the biggest smile on her face, and when I got inside, she always give me the biggest hug. She "Made my Monday's." We would roll silver together, clean tables and put the batteries in all of the kiosk machines. Tamika was very detailed and would always tell me when I didn't do something right. When she would clock out, we'd play games on those kiosk machines. We'd play the best out of 5 and Tamika ALWAYS beat me. It made me so mad & she would just laugh so hard because I'm such a sore loser. Her favorite boss, and as she would always say, "He's my everything" was Tracy. He personally brought her to another Chili's to work with him when the original Chili's she worked at burned down. He always watched over her like a bulldog, and treated her like his own daughter. He never tolerated anyone treating her poorly, and always told Tamika to tell him if anyone treated her bad. He would make Tamika "special drinks," and occasionally cook for Tamika, or make her special salads. Tracy was bright light in Tamika's life, a special light which unfortunately never shined too much during her short lift. We always left together, and I would take her to run errands, or go to McDonalds for breakfast before I took her home. We went to a restaurant of her choosing for her B.Day. We drove to Colorado Springs last summer with 2 other clients 'of mine, Tamika was in the front seat,(she always was.) She was getting annoyed with their conversation, so she started singing at the top of her lungs to "drowned them out." lol That was the first time I heard her sing. Let me tell you, she had the most beautiful voice! Needless to say, the ladies stop talking. We went to a huge wig store one time. It was like being in a movie, and we laughed so hard, we both had to run to the bathroom Tamika would tell me that I was so special and she learned a lot from me, but I would always tell her it was the other way around. We built a strong bond in the two years we worked together. Tamika was one of my favorite client in the 10+ years I've been in this profession and it's going to be very difficult for anyone to take her place. She will be greatly missed and forever in my heart.
