All the Best

Last Friday was my last official day at work. I don’t write too much about my job or coworkers  here, not because I don’t adore both but because I’ve never asked them if they’d mind. I don’t think that I will ever find a work environment so professionally and personally nurturing as the one I’m about to leave. It hadn’t really sunk in yet because I am still going to see them all several times next week. Even going through all the motions on Friday felt completely typical, with no added significance.

I’d written a goodbye letter to all my clients and, towards the end of the day, I posted it on the front desk. Our receptionist/office manager extraordinaire/team mom read it. And then she walked over to my desk and gave me one of the biggest, warmest hugs anyone has ever given me. And she whispered in my ear, “I’m going to miss you so much.”

I guess I’ve assumed that things at work would be more hectic without me around, that other people’s workload may increase for awhile. I figured they’d miss me in the sense that you feel a lacking when anything you’re accustomed to becomes altered in some way. But when I sat back down and looked out the window and let heavy, hot tears roll down my cheeks and onto my desk, I understood a little bit better just how much a part of my life these people had become, and how much they genuinely cared about me. And then I heard the receptionist’s infectious, unmistakable laugh in the back, and I wiped my face, took a deep breath, and joined in on the gossip while I still had the chance.