This is my last Soapbox.  As I write that, my feelings surface.  I must come to terms with them.  All the things I have shared with you.  Yes, I was letting you know what I was thinking about; but some of it was me writing to myself to help me work out what path to take or how to address an obstacle that surfaced in my life.  I hope I didn’t over-share.

I want to thank you – all of you:

• To the students in my classes at PSU, U of W, and at Willamette who asked great questions and had a thirst to know what HR was really like in organizations. You kept me on my toes, and it was great to watch you “get it” when we were talking about a law, a concept, or something the book didn’t tell you.
• To the folks I met through PHRMA and SHRM, I thank you for the great conferences, workshops, and seminars where we learned what changes our organizations had to make; and I loved our after-hours recreation. You gave me reasons to laugh. You are such super people!!
• To the clients I worked with – You are such special people. You care deeply about your organizations and your employees. You know the value of doing things right and you make efforts to be both productive and positive. I will miss working with you to achieve your goals.
• To the staff members who graced our firm with your talent and capability, I will always cherish the finished work and relationships you built with our clients. I will remember your smile when you first closed a new project and when you heaved a sigh of relief because a complicated project was completed.
• To the others, professionals, peers, friends, you were my strength at times I needed encouragement, you were there when I had an idea that required objective serious review, and you were there when it was time to celebrate.  

As you might guess, I have been doing some remembering of special occurrences during the 51-years I have worked in HR. I will no doubt continue my mental trip down my HR journey and find more things to be grateful for. If you want to have a cup of coffee and chat, I now have time to join you.

I understand that there is party November 3rd, and I hope to see you there so I can say “thank you” personally. 

I guess it has come to this… Auf Wiedersehen, adieu.