I have been readying, packing my things in the office for a few days now...bracing myself for the move and transfer to the Museum. while getting frantic inside since I am also leaving in a few days for Darwin Australia...so the move , or the transfers of GSIS personnel to their new assignments will take place while I was away....but yesterday, i was finally able to clear my cabinet and desk of all the 22 years of accumulated files , knick knacks and what have you.....I have turned over all the official files and documents to the 'teachers" who have been given the daunting tasks of consolidating all our files for turn over to the new Training Staff. After the turn over, I was left with 2 boxes, to be given to Odhe who will take charge of bringing my things to my new assignment while I was away ...and it suddenly dawned on me... after 22 years in HR, all I have left are 2 boxes.....hmmmm a certain pang of sadness enveloped me while I was going down to the parking lot....
2 boxes are all that I have left after 22 years of HR work....suddenly the years have passed so fast, they came flying through the window and today I start my journey towards a new life, a new career and though there is something to celebrate, there is also a certain sadness , a prick, perhaps I feel I am leaving behind a part of me in HR ....my home for 22 years. Funny , since I will still be with GSIS but it feels I am leaving a place that has served as my home for 22 years....a place that has given me the opportunity to grow, be bitter and bounce back...the opportunity to get to know most of the GSIS employees up close and personal especially those recruited from 1998-2004, and all the employees that have undergone training....somehow the thought of not being with HR anymore makes me grive a litle....don't get me wrong, I am as excited to move to the Museum or the PR Facilities Management Department...but i can't help but feel like grieving for just a moment.....friends who have been with me or have been with the GSIS for more than 20 years are also leaving, retiring from the office. These are the people who entered the GSIS during my time or the people who were already there and welcomed me in their fold...and now they are starting their journey of leaving the GSIS and starting a new life after GSIS.....this has probably contributed to this feeling.....old familiar faces are starting to go and the new breed of employees have come in .....young ones whose way of life are different from the way of life we Baby Boomers (though I am part of the X gen, I have always felt I am a baby boomer harrr, harrr harr) have been brought up....but what saddens me is the fact that these retiring employees are friends, and sometimes friends after leaving work would no longer have the time to see you or I won't have the time they have and we may not see each other as often as we used to.......and then I realize, we realized ...the next wave of retirees will be us, my contemporaries , those friends who entered GSIS about the time I did....wow !!!!! I am part of the last of the Mohicans (our batch) and after this , I will be part of those who have been with the System the longest......as far as service not necessarily because of age!!!! he he he!!! ! Maybe this is the main reason I am feeling like this , otherwise I am just hormonal !!
On hindsight ( the lowest form of intelligence according to some :)) , all I have are two boxes , and a lifetime of memories to tide me over the next century and plenty of friends I shall meet again somewhere on this earth....Hmmm, the years have gone by so fast, without me even realizing that i have been with the System for this long and with the HR just as long....but life goes on.....we thrive where we are and we love those we are with.....
ciao.........
