I knew for three weeks when my last day was going to be and I tried my best to prepare everyone at the company for my departure. I think I did an okay job as on my last day I had less than a dozen emails. And other than helping test some software and fill in on running a meeting, I had no critical tasks to complete. I finished transferring any tasks assigned to me to the relevant people to complete them and pointed out my organized email and network drive folders to the PM that I shared an office with.

Leaving Sandbox was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve had to make. Annie and I looked at what the next year was going to look like if we just continued how we had been since the loss of Anika, and we didn’t like what we were visualizing. We knew we had to change it.

When I told my bosses and colleagues that I was leaving, they were disappointed but understanding. The executive team all knew what had happened in my family recently and the reasons that Annie and I would want a clean break from Guelph.

When they had taken me in as Project Director, the position didn’t even exist. I had sent in my unsolicited resume and they asked for an informal meeting which ended up being a casual interview. Then they hired me on, and I started providing my opinion on the structure of the organization, reviews on the staff, and both supporting and managing projects. It seemed like exactly the kind of job I needed, especially if I was going to be the sole breadwinner for my family.

After I broke the news, I immediately started working on transition documents. I think one of the co-founders really wanted to pretend I wasn’t leaving as he avoided looking at the transition document that I had created. He even asked if I’d be willing to be part of the interviewing process for my replacement because he trusts my opinion. I hope to stay in contact with most of the team at Sandbox as I continue forward in my life.

At the end of my last day, I went through each office saying goodbye to people. I got a couple of handshakes and a hug. Earlier in the day, I had given back my key to the office and it was the last one on my key chain. It was really hard to walk out the door knowing that I was not coming back. I had already visualized what my life was going to be like having a career at Sandbox.

As I get older, the idea of having a sustained career inside a single company gets more and more appealing to me. I don’t enjoy constantly having to learn the in’s and out’s of new companies all the time anymore, but circumstances seem to keep me on the move.

I thought I was going to stay at Sandbox, eventually working five days a week instead of four. I thought I was going to train the fresh-out-of-school Project Manager that they had. I thought I was going to help the company grow and become more efficient. I thought I was going to get to continue to manage cool projects. I thought about the benefits that they offer and how useful that would be for my family. I thought about how awesome it was that it was so close to our apartment. While I enjoy working from home, I didn’t know how well that would work with a newborn. So many plans…

Now, I have to figure out what’s next. I have many ideas. I have many new plans. But I currently live in the unknown.

I’m going to miss Sandbox Software Solutions, and will always appreciate the time I had there.