When Time Stands Still: The Sudden Loss of a Friend

In 2018 while working for a vacation rental company out of Florida my job was disolved during a reorganization of said company.

One day my job was there but after working there for a decade it was erased. I remember how I felt that day when my boss and the general manager and the HR person called me into the conference room.

I remember making a joke to all of them about them not having to make a big deal out of letting me go. Of course, I was joking, but after looking at their faces the horrible reality of what was going down sank in.

I was told that they appreciated all of my hard work over the years and that the decision was a hard one for them to make. They said they went to bat for me and fought for me to get a severance package which included 6 months of pay and health insurance.

Lets just say I was in shock. At that time I thought that the job would be my last job as an adult. The next step would be retirement. Little did I know that was further from the truth. My reality changed in a moment. I went through an entire range of emotions. I grieved the loss of that job for many weeks.

Losing a job also means that you lose contact with your work friends. Thanks to social media you can communicate and stay in touch that way. Somehow it does not replace…