There she goes ...

I've known this day was coming for months now, but today is my friend Lindsay's last day at work and I couldn't be more sad about it.

I'm happy for her of course. She's moving with her husband (Coast Guard) to beautiful Charleston, S.C., and she's got a fantastic new job with a community news website, so she'll get to work from home and not smell the bodily functions of the sometimes disgusting people we work with, and she'll be closer to her family.

But I'm devastated that she's leaving.

I met Lindsay in 2008 when I first worked at our newspaper. When she arrived it blindsided all of us because we had no idea her predecessor was leaving, until he was gone. Then at the same time, I was going through the insane breakup stuff with the ex and was hating everything and everyone, so she and I never got close that first time around.

But when I came back to this paper in August 2010 she was one of the first to say "I'm glad you're back," and we got to start from scratch. It turns out she's hilarious, has a huge heart, loves animals, loves to fish, is working on a novel that has something to do with zombies, is an amazing friend, an awesome wife, and is just an incredible person.

I've had so much fun this last year, getting to know her, having martinis on Friday nights, talking crap about the smells in the office via i-chat, going out for Mexican, seeing her ride her horse, getting to take care of her chickens (they're awesome!) and just normal friend stuff. (For her last hurrah we went fishing with another friend from work and we both ended up catching sharks, which we of course let go.)

She was an unexpected friend, and I'm so incredibly grateful for that.

To say goodbye I made two cards, one for the newsroom to sign, one for the rest of the newspaper staff, our boss made her poundcake, and we all (well, almost all, we work with some cheap bastards) chipped in to get her a gift card to Bed, Bath & Beyond. It was awesome and I'm so glad we were able to do that for her.

But because I wanted to do more, like I normally do, I made her a painting with a shark that says "Go get 'em" and got her a goody bag of all sorts of random shit for her new home office. I just want her to know she was loved and will be terribly missed. 

I want her to know we're excited for her as she and her husband embark on their new adventure, but I just thought it was also important she know we're sending her off with heavy hearts. I am anyway.

You can't replace someone like Lindsay.

You can put other people in her job and hope they don't suck, and even if they're awesome, they won't be Lindsay.

And let me just say, the person they've got to replace her, so far, is not awesome, but I'm trying not to judge too harshly just yet.

Anyway, it's a sad day, I keep fighting off the tears, which is why I decided to write about it instead. Seems to always help.

Goodbye's suck, I'm pretty terrible at them.

I either sob my way through them, or stay calm and cool until I'm in the car driving somewhere and then breakdown into a huge sobbing mess when some sappy song comes on that has absolutely nothing to do with what's happening.

Life is funny the way it brings random, amazing people into your life. And I'm super glad I stopped being a cranky bitch long enough to realize how awesome Lindsay is before she leaves.

Plus, now I have a reason to go to Charleston more often! Win, win!