Last day

The last week has been a blur. I finally had a chance yesterday to put down in writing what has been happening; the next few days the posts will be exactly one week after the events in them occurred...

Last Tuesday was my last day on premises working for Eisenbrauns. It was a day of mixed emotions. I am sad to be leaving Warsaw/Winona Lake after nearly nine years. But, I am excited about what God is going to do in Grand Marais, MN. The day was a flurry of last minute things that needed to get done—or at least handed over to someone else to do.

At noon, we had a lunch in the park as a company. Debbie was invited and Merna (Jim's wife—a delightful person!) was there, as well. Bev sat down beside me and said that this was not a happy day, but a sad one. I had to agree that it was sad, but it was happy as well. I have enjoyed working with all the people at Eisenbrauns over the years; they are a great bunch of people. It's more than a work place; it's almost family. People carry each other's burdens and are concerned for each other.

After lunch, it was more rush and try to get stuff done. But, lest you think it was all about stuff, it was a time of saying good-bye to people on a one-on-one basis. Some of us did a better job than others of holding in the tears. I wasn't afraid to shed tears; they are healthy.

The sadness was somewhat mitigated by the fact that I will continue to work for Eisenbrauns on a part-time, remote access basis for at least a while. My primary responsibilities will be e-mail marketing and distribution relations. But, with a new system going live today and a new web site sometime soon, there are other responsibilities as well. We're feeling our way along on how this will work.