Today my office gave me a goodbye lunch. I’ve been pretty cavalier about leaving, but the fact is that I’ve spent the better part of the last 13 years working at this job. There were good times and there were bad times. I’ve loved it and I’ve hated it. And I know I’m done with it.

I’ll be working Monday and Tuesday. But after that? Done. I’ll be relaxing over a cup of coffee in my home office, and the firm will be going about its business as it always has. The phone will ring. People will come in and out. But I won’t be one of them.

It’s a bit harder than I thought to say goodbye. I’m a little emotional this afternoon.

I know that I’ll carry with me all the experiences I’ve had at the job–good, bad, happy, sad, funny, frustrating, challenging, satisfying. I’ll transition a few client relationships into friendships. Not many, but a few. And I’ll remain friends with some of my colleagues, and good friends with a few.

So it’s not completely goodbye. Just the end to a chapter. A very long chapter.

Goodbyes.

I’m not very good at them. And yet, it’s been a year of goodbyes. My father’s death. My relationship. My job.

All things I’ll carry in my heart. All part of my story.

I honor every bit of it. But I can’t think about it too long because the future is waiting …