For most of you, this photo will mean nothing to you, just someone's very clean office. For anyone that has ever been in my office over the past 17 1/2 years, it is nothing short of a miracle. Up until last Friday, every square inch of this desk was covered with piles of files, as was every square inch of each credenza and even some square inches of the floor. (This may shock many of my friends that have never been to my office, as it is totally inconsistent with how I keep my home.)
But last Friday, I cleaned every visible (and not visible) surface to ready my office for the new Chief Financial Officer that is taking over my post. I have moved my computer and two tiny stacks of work to a spare office for my remaining transitional service to the firm that has been my employer for most of my professional career. Today was my first day as "the former madam CFO."
I expected to have mixed emotions today, but instead my happiness increased with each click of the "send" button as I one by one, forwarded pieces of my former responsibilities to my successor. Now the tools of my trade fit entirely onto a folding table two feet deep by four feet long. At the end of this day, I came home almost giddy; I expect tomorrow to be fully giddy, and for the silly grin on my face to get more and more annoying to my co-workers with each passing day.
Perhaps as my official retirement date at the end of this month nears, I will start to mourn the loss of my former identity, more likely the loss of my former social life, revolving largely around the people I love to see each day.
But for today, at least, a feeling of total lightness predominated.
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