Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

Yesterday was my last day at work. Running through my list of final task made the day go pretty quick. I packed the remaining few things in my van then went on a fast "Good-bye" tour through the plant. With a lump in my throat and a smile on my face, hard hat and safety glasses in hand, I marched on.

I was met with a lot of "well wishers." The ones I saw were divine appointments. I had said "Good-bye" to the other shift and there were a certain few that I really wanted to see before I left and God made that happen for me. One guy in particular I had prayed about having a face to face meeting and then got so busy leaving that I forgot to make that happen. In my walk through, I walked straight into him and said what I needed to say. It was good and so is God.

Finally, my day at work ended after lunch and I went home to prepare for the party. I was unsure who all would show up from work at the local pizza place, but I knew it would be fun and it would be the right mix. Sure enough, folks started drifting in; I think there was someone represented from every area of the plant. Some of the folks that were no longer working there came to the party and it was great to see them. At one point there were more of the ex-employees then current workers.

As the evening drew to a close, the moment I silently dreaded all day came; saying bye to Thom, my best friend at work, my defender and my confidant. I was going to miss our time together. We were a good team, either in accounting or IT, we worked well together and I was sad to see eight years go. I'm thankful that Gary and he are friends too. We'll do lunch and hopefully more than that, but it was just so final and sad.

So, with a kiss and a hug we said good bye and went on our way...