Stop Moving My Cheese

I don't handle change well.  Never have.  It's a character flaw. 

I feel out of sorts when a barista or bartender at one of my regular haunts leaves.  Sure, it's not a big thing.  But, they're woven into the fabric of my life and when they're gone, it's like the fabric unravels a little bit.  To me, that's unsettling.

I think, maybe, that's why I so often get lost in nostalgia.  I long for days and times gone by, before things changed in whatever way they've changed.  The problem, of course, is is things change in every way, because nothing stays the same.  Nothing.

Unsettled is precisely how I've felt lately at work.  Alisha, an attorney and in many ways, my consigliere for the past 16 years, told me last week she's leaving the law firm at the end of June.  I think I'll write more about her at another time.  Huge loss for our firm and for me, personally.    

To top it off, yesterday I said goodbye to September, who joined our firm three years ago and has worked as my paralegal for the past two years.  She's going to be a stay at home mother to her 20-month old daughter, Gemma, at least for the time being.  Another huge loss for the firm and for me. 

September was kind and professional enough to give me three months notice, which I greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, the job market is historically tight - tighter, in fact, then I've ever seen it.  Although we've been looking for her replacement for three months, we haven't found anyone.  That's never happened before.  Until Alisha dropped her bombshell, I had a bit of a cushion.  Now, though, I'm scrambling a bit, although I have options.

It's funny, because in reality, September and I actually worked together for slightly less than two years.  To me, it seems longer, probably because our personalities really clicked and we got along so well together.  Also, in a relatively short period of time, so much happened in the world and in September's life, all of which affected my work - and the way I work - in ways big and small.

Not too long after September and I began working together, the pandemic arrived.  For the first two or three months, all of our staff worked from home, which seems so strange now.  I worked from home a good bit, too.  In some ways, that may have made us closer, sooner, as we were forced to talk on the telephone multiple times a day to get work done.  

September got pregnant, too, and Gemma was born.  At my suggestion, she took three months off for her maternity leave.  When she returned, the pandemic was still raging.  Her mother-in-law caught the virus and was quite sick.  Then, sadly, her stepfather caught the virus and subsequently died.  September had some health issues, too, and I tested positive for Covid-19 in January and was out of the office for almost two weeks.  That's a lot.

September was very good act her job.  Organized, hard working, and conscientious.  And, as I said, we worked well together, in my view.  She complemented me, I think, because she has an eye for details and I generally see the big picture because it's my nature and, also, because I've been doing this for so long.  

I'll miss September, for sure.  I'll figure it out, though.  Why?  Because I always have and I always do, and because I have no choice.  People need help and the work has to get done.

My law partner, Mark, has a sign in his office.  It says, "Growth is optional.  Change is inevitable."

Truer words have never been spoken.