I started on our 7th wedding anniversary.
Laura was about to turn 3 years old.
Sue was 7 months pregnant with Adam.
I have worked for this company his entire lifetime.
Weirdness.
The last 42 days at work have been very difficult.
We trained a team of people on how to do our jobs. Transition 20 years of knowledge in a series of 1-2 hour sessions.
More weirdness.
The last week for me was about getting closure and being complete with the people that mattered most to me.
I had to say good bye to one of my colleagues on Monday.
The first glimpse of the emotions that would fill the rest of the week.
I told her that I had loved working with her, I will miss you. I hugged her good bye. She told me to stay in touch...
Wednesday, I scheduled a meeting with another of my colleagues. We chatted about all the years we had shared. We had both raised our families while we worked together.
I said my good byes to three of my favorite people on Thursday, thanking them for their support and friendship that has meant so much to me.
Friday was a final lunch with another person I was close to. I couldn't bring myself to say what I needed to say to her. I knew I wasn't complete.
We got back to our desks, I grabbed a box of kleenex and asked her to come with me to an empty conference room.
I was surprised by the emotion I felt. I had gotten through all of my good byes with no tears and now my voice quavered and the tears began to fall.
I said what I needed to say, we hugged one another good bye through our tears.
I said my good byes to the final two people that I wanted to acknowledge before I left.
I struggled so much these last 42 days at work, trying to understand the lesson, trying to find the gift.
When Kelly was dying, her Mom talked about that there was nothing left unsaid between Kelly and her family. That was part of the gift of her cancer journey.
For me, that was my gift as well to leave nothing left unsaid.
I thought I was giving my friends this gift and it turned out that it was really a gift I ended up giving to myself.
