Jul. 11: Awesome thing #465

Edited 7/12: I forgot Sheila. I am so ashamed. She’s been added in and the world is right again, if she’s willing to forgive me. Sheila, please forgive me!!

I love this awesome thing:

#465: When a work friend becomes an outside-of-work friend.

The nine to five brought you together. Cracking jokes by the copier, swapping stories on the line, laughing in the lunchroom, you found a friend between policies, procedures, and paperwork. When you got together you started noticing you were just you, just hanging out, just laughing about your day. Then one day your friendship zoomed to a new level. Maybe you grabbed a beer one night, got a surprise birthday invite, or became new texting pals. Yes, you turned a work friend into an outside-of-work friend, baby. It wasn’t easy but you took the chance, you made the leap, and now you’re rocking with someone new. AWESOME!

Barb

My first friend like this was Barb, whom I worked with at MB&G starting sometime in 1992, I think. It’s been 15 years now since we last worked together, but we’ve remained friends. She’s a sweetheart. I loves me my Barb!

Chris

Also from MB&G was Chris D. We became friends easily because we were the same age and the youngest people working there, but also because he had a crush on my roommate. Except for having weird taste in pizza and being Scottish AND Canadian, he was a pretty decent guy. We lost touch for a while but reconnected on Facebook last year.

Ed (& Others)

I had my first interview at Catapult with Ed in 1996. As the interviewer, I assumed he was important but later found out he was just an instructor. I always looked forward to teaching in the same location as Ed, because it usually meant we would go to lunch together. He eventually became my training manager, and then one very sad day he left Catapult. We continued to meet every few months for lunch or dinner. Ed came to the hospital to meet both of my brand-new babies. He was at the first of my dinner parties at which my sister dropped her pants. He and Stefan have vacationed at my mom’s house. Although we get together less frequently nowadays, we’ve stayed in touch. He’s one of my favorite people in the world, and one of the biggest reasons I’m so thankful for my Catapult experience.

Other Catapult people I’ve remained friends with: Annalee, Becky M, Carla, Chris P (emcityguy), Jay, and Sheila. Is it any wonder I look back so fondly on my years at Catapult? I was so fortunate to meet such fabulous people there.

Alisa

Alisa was the training coordinator when I started contracting at the hospital eight years ago, and we became friends easily outside of work. We don’t get together nearly as much as we’d like to anymore because life is crazy for both of us. Things are scheduled to slow down for a few hours on July 20, though, when she’s going to be my chemo date. Hooray!

I love that I have so many work friends that became outside-of-work friends, and I credit email and Facebook for helping us to continue our friendships, however remote and electronic they may be.