I arranged to leave at noon on my last day of work.
I got to my desk at 6 AM, as was always my habit. I completed a small number of tasks that were left on my "to do" list, and erased it off my office whiteboard. I sent my farewell e-mail to everyone in all organizations that I had interacted with at work.
There was a last minute e-mail "OMG, Emergency, Emergency! I'm so sorry but quick, before you leave forever, tell us how do we do XYZ and why do we do it that way?" So, after I was finally able to stop laughing (I mean really, seriously, think ahead much?
) I answered that.
Then by around 8 AM, there was nothing left to do. I posted here:
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/want2retire-is-retired-47241.html#post873625
People came by to say goodbye, although I retired on a Monday and my official retirement party was a luncheon on the previous Friday, IIRC.
I looked out the window, and did one more search of my office to make sure I had all my personal belongings. Then the time came. I took my exit clearance form with its multitude of signatures, my parking pass, and my badge to security and they examined everything and said I was good to go. They nearly had to pry that badge out of my hands; hey, I liked the photo!
I walked out to my car, got in, and a tear or two fell. I felt a little shaky, to tell the truth, but I got over it as soon as I started the engine.
After I drove home, F took me out to lunch and we spent the rest of the day together.