Corporate Adulting

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

It has been 5 months since I left the company I had worked at for over 26 years. I had worked with some of the people there off and on for my entire career. I also had a lot of good friends at work and they were part of my daily life. I was with them through the ups and downs. We celebrated together, we mourned together, we had fun together — while we got a lot done together at work.

I have friends outside work, but I spent every day with these folks and in many cases, knew the heartbeat of their lives, as they knew mine. I know the names of their pets, their kids, their spouses — and they know mine.

Even so, when the time came for me to leave, I was ready. I still believe it was the right decision. But what I did not expect was how much I would miss my work “family”.

I have since moved on and am working in another role. This job is full-time remote, and I spend a lot of time on video calls, interacting with my new coworkers. They are great, but I miss the camaraderie and casual daily interaction that I had with my former team. I would guess that even if I were in my former role, I would still miss this — remote work is just not the same. There are no hallway conversations or grabbing breakfast or lunch together in remote work.

In this economy, I am incredibly grateful to have a job that helps occupy my time. I know there are many people who are on the job market currently who would love to have my situation, full time remote or not.

Don’t get me wrong…working remote has its positives, but the big negative for me is the quiet house — all day long. I don’t mind it for even a couple of days, but every day…it gets old. By Friday, I find myself feeling like climbing the walls. At the same time, I remind myself that parents of young kids who are having to deal with juggling work, virtual school and lack of day care would love to have a quiet day. The grass is always greener, right?

Along the way, I have been checking in with people. Having virtual lunch with some of my former team, texting back and forth with others, doing a dinner now and then. It helps.

A week or so ago, I got tired of missing my crew and decided to do something about it. I am having a get-together. (Gasp!) We are going to grill out, catch up and I am probably going to hug at least half of them, and maybe more if they let me. I want to hear about everything that is happening in their lives.

Because I miss my people. I want them to know that.

Breaking up is hard to do.

Thanks for reading! Read more of my Corporate Adulting Blog series at https://monicaojendyk.medium.com/.