As The Walls Go Up...

These days, we usually hear the phrase "walls going up" as a metaphor for someone who is becoming guarded, concealing and protecting those parts of the self that are too vulnerable or private to reveal to the world. But today that phrase means something else to me, something literal and proud.

In Laredo, as I type, the walls are going up on the new main branch of Falcon International Bank. Falcon has been a part of my family for nearly my whole life. My dad started working there almost twenty years ago, when the bank had only one location and 18 employees. Over time, the bank grew. It moved to a new building, and I remember having one of my birthday parties in the empty one, which the bank still owned. Spying a strange button under the teller counter, I curiously pushed my fingers against it, disappointed when nothing happened. Then there were sirens (yep, silent alarm!). And later, in the new building, which the bank was leasing, we three kids went with my parents to the annual Christmas parties and ran around the lake in back and hid out in my dad's office, smuggling hors d'oeuvres. And then the bank grew some more. It now has 18 branches, I believe, and a staff of over 250. My dad had so much to do with that growth.



At the end of this year, Falcon will leave the building it has been leasing as its main branch and move to the new one, the one whose walls are being raised right now. I wish I could have been there to hear my dad's speech, but my sister sent me a few pictures so I'd feel included. I'm also watching the progress on the bank's website.

To me, seeing that one wall lifted off the ground, away from the others also waiting to be raised, is so powerful. It signifies the achievement of a dream, of years of dedication and hard work--not just by my dad (and my mom!) but by everybody who's helped the bank grow. And it's very, very inspiring.