I'd like to talk about a farewell get-together we held for a senior colleague named Julian about six months ago. Julian had been working as our lead graphic designer for nearly five years, but he decided to step down because he'd landed an exciting role at a design agency in Edinburgh. Since he had been such a pillar of the team, we felt we couldn't let him go without a proper send-off.
We organised the gathering at a cosy Italian restaurant just around the corner from our office on a Friday evening. Nearly everyone from our department turned up, along with a few people from other teams who had collaborated with him over the years. We booked a private dining area upstairs, which gave us plenty of space to chat and mingle. The evening started with some casual drinks and pizza, followed by a short, rather humorous speech from our team manager, highlighting Julian's quirky habits and his knack for solving creative crises at the last minute. After that, we presented him with a bespoke illustration signed by the whole team and a voucher for a boutique hotel in Scotland.
To be honest, the whole evening was quite bittersweet. On one hand, the atmosphere was lively and full of laughter as we reminisced about tight deadlines and office mishaps. On the other hand, I personally felt quite gutted to see him move on. Julian had been an informal mentor to me when I first joined, always patient and willing to lend a hand. While I was thrilled about his career step, I knew the office dynamic would feel remarkably emptier without his dry sense of humour around.