Anna Quit Her Job

It’s done.  Yesterday was my last day. I am retired.  While maybe I could go back, I will not.

It was a good job and I believe I did it well.  But 30 years is nearly unbelievable.  A lifetime.  It’s time to turn it over, to new ideas, new people, a new generation.  I feel ready.

I feel tired.  I don’t want to think about work for a while. It was a hard job, but that was what made it good.  I never stopped caring; I tried hard every single day.  It was about Team, because it took an excellent Team and excellent people to accomplish our work.  It was frustrating and confusing and discouraging.  It was fulfilling and exciting and uplifting.

So what does one do when they leave their work for the last time after 30 years?  That thought occurred to me the day before.  Was I going to drive home and eat a bologna sandwich?  Nope.  I scrambled to make a quick plan.  I texted my go-to girlfriend, of course!  We met at a bar and had a martini at 3:30 p.m.!  Yep!  Somehow a martini symbolized a celebration.  Mind you, it wasn’t a real martini, it was a girlie martini with chocolate liqueur.  Then dinner with a friend who I had been meaning to have dinner with for months.  No time crunch now!

How do I feel?  I keep asking myself that and I’m not sure.  Excited.  Scared.  Confused.  A little dizzy.

Where will I be this time next year?  What continent?  Asia?  Australia?  Europe?  Home?

What will this year of 2018 hold for all of us?  No doubt, it will be like any other year, with joy, pain, hope.  Thank you everyone, for rooting me on during this lifetime.

Photo:  Kindergarten,  A lifetime ago.