"Sad to leave, but happy to go"

It's nice to feel wanted. Friends are great are great for that.

For three years my friends (and family) in Minnesota have lamented the fact that I have never come through on my promises that I'm coming back from Bozeman "after one more winter". Now that I've finally decided to go back, people are excited to have me coming back.

But the flip side to the coin is that I've been in Bozeman long enough to make some pretty good friends here. As the news of my impending departure has filtered around the office most of the people here have stopped me and asked when I'm leaving and what I'll be doing and also to tell me that I'll be missed. That makes me feel good about the job I've done and the impact I've had here.

The same goes for my hockey team. I informed the team that I was leaving after our game on Sunday morning. The reaction was mainly one of shock and disbelief. I think this has mainly to do with the fact that I'm not as close to my hockey buddies as I am to the rest of my friends. My friends outside of hockey have known that I've at least been thinking about leaving for a while. But again, the fact that this crazy group of guys that I whack at a hockey puck with is going to miss me gives me a nice warm fuzzy. To see see various stages of dealing with hardships upfold right before my eyes was interesting. There was definitely some denial. "What? You're not going?" "Okay, are you going going? Or just leaving for a while?" Then there was bargaining. "I'm going to call up your dad and let him know why he doesn't need you that soon." "You can leave only if you promise to come back for the tournament next year." Luckily there wasn't too much anger or depressions. But at the end everyone came to acceptance.

In the end the fact that everyone is excited for me and understands why I'm going back helps a lot as well. Everyone knows how nice having family around can be. People are generally intrigued by small business ventures and the opportunities and challenges that they can provide. And everyone who knows me well enough knows that sitting at a computer support desk is not what I want to be doing for the rest of my life.

I'm sad to leave the wonderful town of Bozeman and all the friends I've made here. But I'm happy to go back home and be with my even older friends and my family.