My Co-workers, My Family

Wow, I guess I had a bit of a meltdown last night.

Surprisingly though, things dont seem quite so bleak this morning. Yes, I'm still stuck in a dead end government job, but this morning I was greeted by smiling faces in the hall, and friendly banter in the copy room... And it dawned on me that I work with a group of really good people; people who are genuinely caring and considerate, people who care just as much about me on a personal level as my own family -- If not more so.

When I mentioned this morning that I was anxious for the day to be over and done because the guy I'm seeing is picking me up, the person I was talking to asked about him and wanted to hear everything -- how we met, what he's like -- everything. And she was genuinely happy to see me happy. Whereas, when my mom heard that I'm finally seeing someone again, she didn't want to hear anything, and pretty much pretended that I hadn't said anything about it.

As much as I hate my job, I love the people that I work closely with. We're like family to one another. And even while that family is being broken up because of management issues and people finding other jobs, we still care enough about one another to throw going away parties, and birthday parties, and keep in touch.

Today is my supervisor's last day (we'll call her D, for anonymity's sake). She got a job at the Rec Center here on campus. Its her dream job -- ultra cush -- and we all wish her the best. But I'm going to miss her horribly.

When I first started here, as a temp, her daughter and I worked together under someone else. But D still happily helped train me. She's been somewhat of a mother to all of us, always asking to make sure we're doing alright, and seeing if we needed anything... When I had questions, I would go to her instead of my own boss whenever possible, because she never made me feel stupid for not knowing how to do something. When my boss quit, and I found out that D was going to be my new supervisor, I couldn't have been happier. When I was out on disability, she called to see how I was doing. She sent me emails to check on me, and reassure me that things would be better when I came back. When I did finally come back to work, she made a point to make sure I wasn't overwhelmed or overloaded. She watched out for me, and cheerfully took anything off my desk that I couldn't handle.

D is the only supervisor I've ever had that has truly had my back, and cared about how I'm doing as a person, as well as an employee. Once she's gone, I'll be left to deal directly with upper management on my own. With no buffer zone. While I've been in that situation before, and can handle it, its not a pleasant experience... And I'm dreading D's departure like nothing else. Not just because of the management thing, but because I'm going to miss her motherly care, attention, and encouragement. She's always believed in me, trusted that I could do well, and told me more than once that she thinks I could go really far here, even without a degree.

I'm actually in tears writing this... I really feel as if I'm losing a close family member... And it hurts a lot more than I thought it would...