"I'll need a new briefcase", my husband ventured.  A trip to central America was in the offing and he had been toting the same  traditional corporate issue attaché for the last fifteen years. 

He had not actually named it, but it had served him well.   It  accompanied him to every meeting as he  spiralled laterally up the slippery ladder. 
It is also a depository for antiquities, not unlike Mary Poppins' bag. 

It has carried his important paper collection; those receipts that we may need for unascertained future events.  It is a portable desk for use on the train and, if truth be told, it is his lunchkit.  So it was not without a misty eye that the decision was made to have it lanced.

 

Thus, the management of change began.  The last fifteen years have seen changes.  The shoulder strap now complements the handle. 
Suits gave way to business casual and shoulder straps need not cause fear of unsightly dents in the Hugo Boss uniform. 

The centre compartment for the laptop did not exist previously and nor did the cell phone holder.  But one change shook us to our cores.  It was with a slight embarrassment that the owner of the luggage store explained that some of his bags are offered in ballistic materials.  That's right, we were looking at bullet proof briefcases.

 

Three years ago, the corporate trips ended.  My husband's boss had been one of those very dusty souls wandering through the streets.  A co-worker was missing.  American flags flew in our suburban Canadian neighbourhood and my three year old asked if there were any mommies in there.  We all grieve for the loss of innocence.

 

The trip went well.  We joked that I wanted my husband to hold the newly purchased bullet proof briefcase in front of his head, while he had ranked the relative importance of his body parts somewhat differently.  But the favourite attaché, comfortable and trusty, had given way to change.

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Veronica Swift lives and works, with her banker husband and child, in Southern Ontario where the coffee is hot and the winter is cold. She is a much welcomed regular contributor to the CoffeeCrew.

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