A Chapter Of Life Is Finished

I was able to spend the last 3 hours of my working life going around and saying my goodbyes to my friends/coworkers. I didn't realize how many people I knew there until it was time to say my goodbyes.

The hardest part came when it was time to say goodbye to Jennifer. She and I dated last year for about 7 months and we were really close and things were pretty serious between us. When we broke things off and she completely quit talking to me even though we sat 5 cubes apart - she wouldn't even acknowledge me if I said hello to her. Seeing her everyday and hearing her talking and laughing all day long was a hellish experience for me. I would never date her again, but I still love her soul and it was tough to have her pretend that I didn't even exist.

I wrestled with whether I should stop over and say goodbye to her and in the end I decided to do so. She promised 8 months ago when we broke up that if she ever left the company she would come over and say goodbye on her last day. I don't know if she would have still held true to that, but I wanted to keep my end of the deal.

I walked up to her cube and let her know I wanted to say goodbye, I wished her well with finishing her Masters degree, and I told her to take care of herself. She did respond to the last thing and let me know that she would take care of herself, but she didn't acknowledge anything else. I had nothing else to say so I headed back to my cubicle glad that I did my part but sad that someone who was once such a close friend is now so distant and cold. On one hand I'm relieved to know that I don't have to see her any longer, but I'm still saddened that we aren't even on talking terms and that it'll remain that way for the rest of our lives.

I walked out the door at Auto-Owners at 3:45 on Wednesday for the last time and I joined the world of unemployment. It's a strange feeling to know you aren't coming back to the place you've spent 8 hours of every weekday for the past 4 years. I'll never set foot in Auto-Owners again and I'll never see Jennifer again. Those pages have been written and it's time to let go and move on to the next part of my life.