With my absolute rock, in (sort of) a hard place.

Norm and I went into the office yesterday to finally pick up all of my personal belongings. (Social distancing was safely observed as we were the only two people scheduled to be there during the hour reserved specifically for us.) It was a strange way to say goodbye—to a space emptied out of all of its life with no coworkers to even wave farewell to from six feet away.

As a makeshift endpoint, I had us take a selfie in front of the hinged, rabbit head mirror art I have loved so much the past eight years—riiiiiiight in front of it and so perfectly placed that you can’t really even see it at all….WELL DONE, ME. I wondered if I might be emotional during this trip, but I honestly wasn’t. It was okay. I was okay. It really is time, I guess.

The good news is all the books I had collected at work are now back home with me! The bad news is, well, all the books I had collected at work are now back home with me. Oh, look, Norm! (*makes a sweeping gesture all around*) MORE BOOKS. Also home again, among other things, is my pig-jumping-in-a-lake painting reprint I love so much, goat art gifts from both Norm and Alex, a framed photo of Stella and me that I cherish but don’t even have a digital copy of and, of course, my RBG and Brienne of Tarth action figures. I took very few actual PB items—just a couple of special issues and my fat folder of notes from when I was training back in Chicago. Those were incredibly stressful but amazing trips.

So, I guess, this is now truly the end of this chapter. I am thankful for my years at the magazine and for all of the lovely people it afforded me the chance to work with along the way. But I am especially grateful for my own favorite group of exceptional colleagues who became my cherished friends over the years. I will carry these relationships forward with me into whatever comes next and try my hardest to do very little looking back.