Remember last week, when I mentioned going to a swanky dinner -- and donning a luxurious fur coat -- to celebrate something special? Yeah, that dinner got pushed back (I'm not bitter...) -- but I get to share some news today.
There's a big, exciting, nerve-wracking, crazy reason for that celebratory dinner.
Kyle got a new job.
And after nearly seven years, he is leaving the company where we met for this opportunity.
Just like any other major life change, this transition is a little bittersweet. He's going to a great company -- respected, fast-growing, solid as a rock -- and moving into a fantastic financial analyst position. But he started at the old company as a college intern, then fresh after graduation as a full-time employee. More than any other place in Pittsburgh, it has helped him grow as a person.
I interned at this company for three summers, and I met Kyle there at the beginning of the second. I'll never forget asking to sit next to him at dinner during a company golf outing, his uncle and my dad both close by (it's a small world after all...) Or being lovingly harassed by coworkers for being that intern (you know the one). Or going out for my first ever happy hour with him and his department (actually I have forgotten most of that particular night). I definitely shed a tear or two on my last day at that internship.
Kyle isn't quite the crier I've become, but one of my favorite things about him is his sentimentality. When he loves people and places, he really loves them. Even when they drive him crazy (trust me on this one). I know it's going to be hard for him to walk out of the office on his last day without a big, fat lump in his throat.
Just like I know it's going to be impossible for him not to be excited when he walks into his new office the following Tuesday (because now he gets bank holidays, the stinker).
For most things in life (spouses ideally excluded), it's good to make a change once in awhile. It's smart not to get too comfortable, to seek out new challenges and embrace fresh pathways. He's not just switching jobs, he's switching industries. My very own financial wizard is taking his fancy suits and his quantitative brain into unknown territory.
Just like leaving for college, or bringing home a puppy, or getting married, entering any unknown is a leap of faith. But I couldn't be more proud of him for making that jump, and I know -- just like all those other times -- he won't just land on his feet.
He'll bust out some sweet dance moves and amaze us all.
