Farewell my friend

last night was the retirement party for my friend Don, the one who's wife has Glioblastoma.

Many people turned out for the event, as one person kicking off the speeches said "... this is the first retirement party I've planned where we weren't worried about how many people would show up, in fact, we invited 40 to keep it intimate and we received 70 RSVP's".

This same person went on to mention that for quite sometime his family didn't know that he worked with Don. For every time he referred to Don he said "my friend Don"... it took a long time for it to come out that he was a colleague. That's the way Don was, above all else, people, relationships and friendships matter most. It was at that moment I realized though I knew him the shortest of everyone in the room, he had still managed to touch me in the same way as people he'd known for years, the speech I stressed over, debated for days, well, I tossed it mentally and in the end, my wrap up speech was better for it.

His friendship speaks volumes about the relationships possible in the workplace, the friendships, the connections. I've felt many of those things in many places I've worked, it's made me a better person, a deeper person, a more fulfilled and giving person.

Tonight, when I closed out the speeches by giving Don one final farewell, I marked the close with these words:

"I consider it my honor and privilege to be the last person Don worked for. For like so many of you, if not all of you, Don was not only someone to work with, to work for, or to have on your team, Don was your friend. I know Don was my friend and I am grateful for it, he will be missed by all of us here today and all of who were unable to make it, so let's raise our glass and honor not his accomplishments at work, but more so, the friendships we all shared..."

Here's to my friend, to all of his friends and to his family. May they be able to continue to extend the life of his wife and may his retirement reap him rewards even greater than the summation of the friendships he created at work.

Some people leave wakes of devastation behind them, others, like my friend Don, they leave wakes of happiness, joy and warmth. Before I left for the evening, I talked to my friend who started the speeches off so eloquently, we agreed that we hope when we retire, we have made half the impact on those we work with, for and who work for us, that Don has made on all of us.

If I could be that lucky... I miss Don, but I take solace in the fact I am not the only one who does.