Knowing Me

I had been wondering if my coworkers were going to cook up some sort of surprise party for me when I left. I was pleasantly surprised by the treats and journal gift they brought to our team meeting last week, and thought that was a very nice little goodbye. Imagine my surprise yesterday, then, when I walked into what I thought was a meeting of three people, to find the room filled with our extended team and even one or two folks from the IT Training team. (Armando had even walked down the hill because he didn't want to create suspicion by riding the shuttle with Catherine and me! I guess he took Trisha's death threat for spoiling the surprise to heart! :P) The two union reps I work with most frequently even came a little later on.

Jenn had put together a slide show of all the photos they had of me with the team -- from various HR parties, our "team building" day on the river, and the Halloween Giving Campaign event with me in a pirate costume. Catherine had concocted a delicious punch, and Gretchen had baked a heavenly cheesecake and decorated it with real flowers. And they had all signed a lovely card and contributed to another gift - a gift certificate to Next Adventure, a cool outdoor store close to my house. Wheee!

Jenn made me laugh with her stories about how they had planned the party and chosen the gift certificate. She said, "We were trying to plan a party with all of HR, but then thought, 'wait, Lacey doesn't like parties. She's not a party person at all. She'd probably kill us if she showed up and the entire department was here!' So we didn't invite them." On the subject of gift certificates: "We were coming up with all sorts of ideas, like 'how about a day at the spa?' Then we said, 'Oh, wait - this is Lacey we're talking about. Hello!'" :P They ended up choosing the outdoor store because they figured I could probably use some gear for my trip to Ecuador - and they're right! It is a perfectly splendid gift, and one which will certainly be put to good use (as opposed to that spa certificate, which would have languished and expired in a drawer...).

It was a fun party, but reflecting on it afterward, I realized that what meant the most to me was the fact that these people know me -- well enough to have planned and carried it out perfectly. I have always said that I work with a group of amazing people, but this brought that point home. I have built real friendships here - personal friendships, not just working relationships. These women have taken the time to get to know me and I know that, while they will be hugely impacted by my leaving (they're not going to be able to refill my position), they are all sincerely happy that I am leaving to pursue my heart's desire. How could I ask for more than that?

Here's all of us a few weeks ago after our (postponed and rescheduled) holiday hot chocolate date downtown:


Left to right: Jenn, Jillian, Catherine, Trisha, Kirsten, me, Shannon