Old Friends...

... and that's by no means a knock on their age.

We were fortunate enough to have friends from Maryland, who were driving past us, stop to have dinner with us tonight. I met Rich at my last company many years ago when I first started there and in the end he was a member of the team I managed right before I left. He and his wife were on a trip through New England on his way to a training course.

Since we moved here we've had so many friends and family driving through the area, flying to the area, to either visit us or able to stop by on their way to something else. They've reaffirmed my belief in the idea that no matter how busy you are, you can always (and should always) make time for friends and family, life never gets simpler or easier. When we were in Maryland there were few who visited and it was like pulling teeth, the highway was this phenomena whereby cars were only allowed to travel outbound from The Bay and return to the Bay. Seriously, it was like this Bermuda Triangle of Route 95 or something, ridiculous.

All kidding aside, we did have a few regulars like my mom and Karen who came every year and sometimes a few times a year, they were our rocks, but overall visitors were hard to come by.

Now that we're in the northeast we've spent at least one weekend a month with friends or family and many months 2-3 weekends, we've been grateful for it.

This evening was no different, a chance to connect in a way I didn't before with Rich and his wife. I didn't really get to know him till I was his manager, and honestly, that was an awful time for E and I. Our life having just fallen apart from Sophia, getting the adoption paperwork completed, tons of work pressure from an asinine boss that it took me leaving to realize what a toxic ass he was. So I never really let Rich and my other team mates get to know me. I was guarded and quite shy, I managed them but I never really connected with many till too late. I always regret that.

I've used that experience to help me be a better manager, to help me create personal connections with each and every team member, and now I have nearly twice as many people on my team. I'm lucky for what my team at my last job taught me and for the tiny connections I could wrap my head around during that awful time and try to make. There was just too much loss in our lives then and we were in a shambles.

I am grateful to have made enough of a connection with Rich that he and his wife came for dinner. I hope they had as much fun as we did having them here.

So here's a toast to all the awesome people at my last job, those I worked with and those who were on my team, E and I are better people for it. Thank you.

PS -Renee, they agree, we do live in Connectitucky.