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Many Americans spend more waking hours with their co-workers than with their families. More than 2,184 hours at work each year help explain why the names and birthdays of your receptionist's neighbor's children are easier to remember than those of your own kids.

What we do to earn our daily bread ranges widely, from answering phones in an office to tending to sick people in a hospital. Whether you write software or paint toenails, within all that business of work, there is the business of life that helps put it all in perspective.

In all my years in the world of work I have never been as shocked and saddened by a co-worker's personal life than I have in the past month.

This is one of those most unexpected turns in life that just happened to a friend and colleague. The injustice of it all struck so swiftly, it absolutely rocked her world. The ensuing aftershocks left her co-workers reeling.

We were stunned the day Chip left Mandy.

Mandy's husband of 20 years also worked for CR&R Inc., but out of another office in another city. Some of us had met Chip, and were by all accounts, very impressed with him.

He was a hard worker, a hands-on father and most importantly, Mandy's high school sweetheart turned soulmate. Mandy's computer has a scrolling screensaver that reads "Chip Loves Mandy." He put it there. Mandy downloaded his picture and it made sporadic appearances on her screen. I had the pleasure of checking out the mustached mechanic when I walked by her desk at just the right moment.

Mandy must have been the girl in high school that everyone liked. Cute, funny, rambunctious, and just a sweet, sweet person. Those things obviously attracted Chip as he and Mandy ran away and got married right after she graduated.

Two decades and two teenage sons later, all looked great for the hardworking, popular couple. Four weeks ago, Mandy started talking about Chip's ongoing bout with bronchitis. The doctors suspected pneumonia. A pain in Chip's back was soon X-rayed. Chip had fallen off a horse about four months ago, and the ensuing pain nagged him ever since. Wifely prompting got the stubborn husband into the doctor's office for more exams, more scans.

Another work week went by, and Chip's cough and pains led to the discovery of markings on his lungs. Cancer was suspected. Cancer was confirmed. A large tumor was identified. A plan of action to begin chemotherapy was postponed due to complications with blood clots.

The next week, those of us in the office were horrified to learn that the clotting in his lower legs made Chip a possible candidate for foot amputation in order to expedite the cancer treatments.

Feeling helpless at the fringe of Chip and Mandy's escalating medical nightmare, we took up a collection and signed some get-well cards. One of the girls in the office wrote a simple and message: "Chip, get well soon. We love you because Mandy loves you."

Most of us barely knew Chip. Through our relationship with Mandy, her man was breaking all of our hearts. Chip grew weaker as the days went by.

His doctor allowed him to return home last week. Within 12 hours of leaving the hospital, Chip died in his own house, with his wife by his side.

His two boys slept fitfully under their dad's roof that night. Their mom had made the decision to let her husband go, without her young sons bearing witness.

From a friend, and co-workers perspective, those were some of my toughest days on the job. Chip was a husband, a father, a son, a brother. He was a lot of things to a lot of people. To those of us at the office, we'll always love Chip, mainly because we love Mandy.

Former Albuquerque resident Sanchez Badillo lives in Murrieta, Calif.