BLYN – Lori Athow has been called into Chief Financial Officer Linda Ruffcorn’s office many times in the past year.

“She can just look at me and know I’m not having a good day, and she’ll wiggle her finger and say, ‘Come on in,'” said Athow, a receptionist at 7 Cedars Casino.

Ruffcorn wasn’t seeking to give Athow, 47, any reprimand. Instead, she offered comfort.

Athow’s daughter Andrea Swift died April 4, 2006, from a tragic accident a few weeks before her 28th birthday.

Mother and daughter lived next door to each other in Sequim.

Since Swift’s passing, Ruffcorn “always kept an open-door policy. She’d say, ‘If you need a few minutes, just come in and gather yourself,'” recalled Athow.

“And Linda did research . . . she found me some counselors, and The Compassionate Friends,” a support group for grieving families.

On Wednesday, Athow paid tribute to Ruffcorn and other co-workers at 7 Cedars with the Compassionate Employer Recognition, an honor The Compassionate Friends gave to 80 other firms around the world this year.