Dd852
Full time employment: Posting here.
I went to the memorial service today for a former colleague who died at 52 (still working...but happily I think). There were many familiar faces there, of course; many people I’d known for 10, 15, 20 years and worked closely together with. While I was happy to see them, and I think they me, it was remarkable to me how little I actually wanted to say to them and how much our lives had diverged. When working, we probably talked as much or more than I did with my wife! Now? One baby step removed from strangers - all we ever really had in common was the job and the company and the dramas with other colleagues. And that, it turns out, isn’t the same thing as a real friendship! When you’re in the midst of it, it is easy to think these relationships are precious and irreplaceable. They’re not. The true friends - you know them by the time you chose to spend together, not the time you’re just thrown together. These aren’t the most profound thoughts, but being at a memorial really brought home to me the importance of not wasting time, and concentrating on the things and people of true value.