Old Friends

Five years of my life were spent deep in the trenches of my former employer. I left a little over two years ago to pursue more money and a better opportunity, but what I didn't realize is that I left behind people I really cared about and who had become my family.

One of my best friends at my old company did a purchasing demo for my new boss and coworkers and rather than have him just do a webcast for us, I took the opportunity to drive the twenty minutes or so to their new offices and do the meeting in person with him. As I was waiting by the elevator, my old boss came up and greeted me and was genuinely happy to see me. I hadn't realized exactly how much I missed working for him until that minute. He was always able to push me and get the best out of me in a way that few people are able to. I've been known to be high maintenance at times, but he kept setting the bar higher and higher and higher and before I realized it I was performing at a higher level than I ever thought I could.

We had a few minutes to kill before the demo, so I spent the time walking around and greeting my old coworkers. Without exception they were thrilled to see me and greeted me with hugs. The feeling was mutual as I greeted the folks I'd spent five years in the trenches with hugs and happiness. We spent a few minutes catching up and then it was on to the meeting. I was thrilled to see so many of them were still working at my old company and that despite the difficulties of the previous year, they all looked happy and I was happy for them.

It's always interesting to have folks from former and current jobs meet each other and today was no exception. My buddy B had to tell obligatory jokes about my messy desk so my new boss felt inclined to tease me about my history of destroying laptops (i.e. spilling nail polish and other things on them), but I knew it was all in good fun and that if they really didn't like me they wouldn't have teased me (at least that's what I told myself). Overall the meeting went well and it was a pretty productive sharing of ideas.

The afternoon ended with more visits to old friends and more hugs and I left the building wondering whatever possessed me to leave when I worked with such awesome people. And then I remembered I'd left to have a more project based job and even though I really missed the people, I know deep down that I made the right choice for me. And, I have all their numbers so we can always do lunch.