Saying “Goodbye” is hard. Sometimes.
My favorite officer at work retired Tuesday. This guy was amazing; technically smart, a leader who took care of his people, someone who spoke up against the red-tape stupidity inherent in any organization. And he was a great friend.
When I left for work that morning, I was yakking to the cats. As I stepped out the door, I told them we were losing one of the best that day, and proceeded on my way. What I didn’t realize was how much it was going to affect me. I began tearing up in the morning and knew I wouldn’t be able to hold it together at his ceremony.
Fortunately he was here yesterday. (He’s dedicated like that.) I apologized for missing his retirement and he said he’d noticed I wasn’t there. But as I told him why, I began crying again. He was flattered, although he kind of apologized for it since he saw how sad I was.
I’m not sure why it affected me so much. I’ve said good-bye to good people before, and my reaction hasn’t been this strong. I’m not going to try to analyze it now. I’d just end up crying. I’ll save that for my counseling session this evening.
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:20 am
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with crying when you have to say ‘goodbye’ to someone you worked well with for some time, you were on friendly terms with, and you appreciated both personally and professionally.
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:01 pm
And maybe the comparison with other, less good, less nice-to-work-with people enhances the sadness.
I’m sorry you have to see him go, and I hope you get to stay in touch, if that’s something you want.