Tomorrow, I’ll wake up, get in my car, and drive with my husband to visit our son in Upstate New York.  I won’t be going in to the office tomorrow, or on any other day from now on.

Today, after a lovely retirement lunch with my co-workers, my daughters and I packed up my belongings, and I surrendered this space to some future occupant.

I’ve spent hours, days, weeks, months, years sitting at this workstation, and have enjoyed many (though certainly not all) of them.  I’ve worked with some terrific colleagues, and on a variety of projects in my tenure.  I am grateful for the friendships and interesting times I’ve found here.  A wonderfully supportive group of people waved me off to my new adventures today.

It’s the natural order of things that we grow, change, and feel the pull to move on.  It’s no big secret that work had become less fulfilling for me and, well, more like work in recent years. The challenges have been less stimulating and more draining;  the changes less exciting and more tedious.  Maybe it’s just me and where I am in my life, but this just wasn’t fun anymore.

It was fun once – the creative problem-solving, negotiating, and teaching aspects of my work always gave me a great deal of pleasure and fulfillment.   The reporting, documenting, and endless follow-ups – not so much!

In any case, I have other places to be now, new things to learn, and different challenges to meet.  What’s in front of me is exciting again.  I’ve made myself and my family some promises with regard to my time and my health.  There is so much to do in this next part of my life, and it’s time to get started – I can’t wait to start checking things off!

So, to my employer and co-workers, and to the outside people I have worked with, thank you for all of your kind words, your good wishes, a lovely send-off – and most of all, for your friendship over these past years.

I couldn’t have had a warmer close-out to my career.  Thanks for that.