The way I suddenly left the company must have felt very abrupt to my coworkers. The preparations on my end were a real nightmare, a few very very difficult months full of uncertainties, disappointments, dead end streets, lots of work and unpleasantries, and being forced to wait for the stars to align and making sure I don’t blabber anything to anyone, but when everything finally fell into place, I made my move immediately. I am still surprised I managed to pull the whole thing off, the whole operation was a logistical nightmare.
What surprised me was an email from a colleague I had only worked with occasionally. She asked if I was okay, if anything was wrong, and whether I was coming back. When I told her I had already left, she seemed mildly shocked, then went on to share her feelings and wish me well. I did the same for her. I never expected her to personally reach out. I am not sure why she did it, we were getting along well but weren’t really the best friends while I was there. I guess other people from the department were curious about the background of me quitting, but she was the only one with my email so she got asked to investigate.
It’s not a good solution, but it’s better than other options. If we met under different circumstances, maybe we would still be friends. Goodbye.