Thoughts

I was going to write a yarny post today, but I’m going to blog about something more personal. This week has been a difficult one for me, partly because I’ve been very busy organising a retirement do (well, ‘dos’ in the plural as he had 6!) for my boss (with lots of help from colleagues). It’s also gearing up to my busiest time at work, so to say it has been stressful would be an understatement.

However, most of the difficulty comes from the fact I am going to miss him immeasurably. You may be thinking, “it’s only your boss and you’ll get another one”. Yes, I will. I’ve no doubt that my next boss will be excellent, but different.

I’ve worked for him for 7 years, some of which have been very tough for me. This last year has been one of the most challenging of my life, as I’ve struggled through 8 different medications, numerous blood tests and hospital visits. Through it all, I’ve had a friend, not just a boss. He has listened to me and offered advice, picked me up when I felt down, offered to bring me shopping, called me at home to check I was OK and most of all made me laugh all the time.

I have what I’ll euphemistically call a ‘difficult’ relationship with my dad. I felt like I’d found a second father in my boss – someone who was interested in me, wanted to see me blossom professionally and personally and even covertly checked out Mr GiW with my colleagues when we first got together, to make sure he was going to treat me right (I found that out some years later).

Yesterday was my boss’s last day at work. We had a do in the office and some of our team went out for a meal last night. As I said goodbye to him, I realised just what a treasure I have lost. I hope we’ll keep in touch, although it won’t be the same. Anyway, I wish him a long and very happy retirement. I’m trying to keep this saying in mind: “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened”.