Sunday, March 21, 2010

Leaving a way of life is hard......

So I don't think I have officially announced this on here but I quit my job. After almost 10 years I quit my job. It was a hard thing to do....one of the hardest things I have had to do in a while. This was a decision long time in the making and it was showered in prayer. God has given me a new direction and I am following it. But I feel like I need to explain my relationship with my friend....ahem, I mean boss. It is very special and unique. Let me start from the beginning...

Back in 2001 I was J's bank teller. She would come through the drive thru at least once a week in her Mercedes SUV. I would help her and that was that. One day she came in to the bank and asked to talk to me. She asked me if I had ever considered being a paralegal......hummm--I did not even know what a paralegal DID.....so I answered her question (no) but still decided to interview with her that weekend. I met with her in her office on a Saturday and she called me later that weekend to offer me the job. Well, I took it (one of the best decisions I have ever made!). I trained with one of her old paralegals for a few weekends in a row and jumped in feet first. Boy was I ever scared and intimidated.....but after about a year at the job I started feeling more comfortable knowing what I was doing, etc.

And J and I went together like peas and carrots.....we worked so well together.....we got to the point where we would finish each others sentences and people would get us mixed up on the phone because we sounded so much alike. Our work together just flowed.....it was great! Over the years we have developed quite the friendship.

Here is a list of some of the life-changing events she has experienced with me over the past 9+ years:

~my 21st birthday
~home ownership for the first time
~when I became a Christian
~she is the one who got me into BSF (where I am now a leader)
~my engagemet
~my wedding
~my pregnancy and birth of Emma (5 weeks too early)

I have seen her kids grow up. Her youngest was 4 when I started--now she is getting ready for high school! J was a lawyer in solo practice when I started to work for her--now she has a partner and had an associate who has since gone on to be a Judge. We have gone through many, many other (crazy) paralegals and office moves.

Honestly, I would not be the almost-30 year old woman I am today if J had not seen something in an almost-21 year old girl all those years ago. She took a chance with me and I am so grateful to her for that. This transition is exciting for me--but also very sad. I feel like I am losing a best friend. I can't even imagine not seeing J every week. But we will get by--we will survive--and we will develop a whole new relationship minus the boss/employee part. I am so looking forward to that. I am confident that J will find in my replacement what she found in me. I have not met her yet, but will this Wednesday. She is a young ex-bank teller if you can believe it--I think that is a good sign :)

I'm not sure what my last day in the office is going to be like. When I take my picture of Emma off my desk and leave my chair with a dent in the arm rest from where I rest my elbow. When I leave my curvey keyboard with the paint rubbed off where I rest my wrists when I type. When I leave that darn printer that takes way too long to print but J and I are too attached to it to get rid of it. When I leave my keys to the office. When I leave my way of life for almost 10 years...............

God has a plan.......

1 comment:

McLeodx5 said...

That was a great post. Thanks for sharing that part of your life. And the plan for you? Well i think it is bigger and better than you'd ever be able to imagine. :)