A Perimeter Parting
John SimmerlingMay 5, 20122 min read
In the Dunwoody HBO & Company building, I remember
looking across the pine trees in the parking lot at the Darth Vader building in
the distance.
I remember watching groups of customers on their way to
“Hospital 2000” with Dan Labenne or Dan Mowery.
Having lunch on the sixth
floor in the executive dining room with the CEO.
Writing contracts and
RFPs after everyone else went home. Then being at the front door before
anyone else arrived in the morning.
To me, just a skinny guy that looked like a teenager, it was
awesome.
Back then, the Coke dispensers in the break rooms were a
novelty and STAR ruled the IT skies.
It seemed then like it was always spring. In my
memories the colors are always yellow-green and the world was budding and
blooming.
Of course, things change. Monday is my last day with
McKesson.
I was barely out of my entry level job when I started
here. Every paycheck I can remember has had HBO & Company or McKesson
logos on it. Now I’ll look at a different logo for a while and see
if I can get used to it.
This company has been my education, my family, my
friends, my life.
And I'm very grateful for the opportunity to be at such a
wonderful place – one that has given so much to me. To spend my days with
better people than I could have found at any company in America. Of
course, that’s my opinion, but I wish that everyone working here today could
know what I know about our history – and the people that made this such a great
place.
So here is a heartfelt goodbye and a thank you. To the
people I work with now and in the past.
You helped me be who I am.
And if the Coke is still free, maybe I’ll be back.
John Simmerling
Writer, poet, and artist. Exploring family stories, grief, love, and the small moments that shape who we are. Drawings from my mind.
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