Missing people

Back when I was still in graduate school, I had a somewhat subdued sense of missing folks who left the program, got a job, or otherwise went away. And when I left one graduate program and took up with another one, it was the same. As it was when I left graduate school for my first job. Everyone leaves graduate school at some point, so you can't really feel too sad about not being around the same people all the time. Sure, you miss people, but you know that forever just isn't going to happen.

So why is it so sad to leave colleagues when you move from one job to the next? Of course, it isn't sad to leave some colleagues. It's good riddance to some. But the ones you like, the ones who made the job bearable--those ones are hard to leave.

And so I just had lunch with two of the folks from Carbondale who helped enriched my life there. They were in Columbia for a few hours, dropping off one of their progeny, who attends MU. And now they're gone, and I feel sad.

Which isn't to say I don't have folks here who I would no doubt miss equally if I or they were to leave. It's just to say, it was so good to see them, so good to talk, and, right now, I'm feeling their absence pretty keenly.

Sigh.