Props to a friend!

My friend KERRY is moving to A NEW JOB NEXT MONTH. KERRY is the person I wish I could be: confident, outgoing, emotionally secure, and very professional in a work environment. Everyone knows KERRY because she's fun and she knows what she's doing. KERRY even leaves her DOOR OPEN at work every once in a while to see her colleagues who NEED HER ADVICE, all in the name of promoting colleagial relations. KERRY is also a risk taker, in the best type of way.

A YEAR ago, KERRY HELPED ME WITH THE DECISION about a job opportunity in Toronto. SHE thought it was a temporary thing, BUT I NEEDED A REAL CHANGE. WORKING FOR HER is what I'd give my right arm for, because working WITH KERRY is huge for your federal government career. But no, WORKING FOR KERRY WASN'T IN THE CARDS, SO I LEARNED AS MUCH AS I COULD BY WORKING WITH HER. SHE STILL LIVES IN a city which seems to REJUVINATE my soul every time I fly into its airport OR DRIVE INTO ITS CITY LIMITS. To live in Mississauga IS NOT THE SAME AS OTTAWA. KERRY UNDERSTOOD THAT. OTTAWA IS a city I CHERISH even when I live in Toronto BECAUSE OF PEOPLE LIKE KERRY.

I told KERRY there was no way in hell I'd PASS UP AN OPPORTUNITY TO WORK FOR HER, BUT I TOLD HER I HAD TO take THIS risk, leave my OTTAWA job for one that required a huge learning curve and a higher cost of living, but with no pay raise. What if I didn't like it?

KERRY is way cooler than I am. She HAS BEEN ON SO MANY ADVENTURES I WISH I HAD THE COURAGE TO DO. EVERYONE LOVES KERRY UP there, ESPECIALLY HER peeps. SHE LISTENED WHEN I TOLD HER ABOUT THE AFTERMATH OF lookING for an apartment, and SUPPORTED ME WHEN I TOLD HER I took the job. She HELPED ME MAKE MY lists and BELIEVED I DID THE RIGHT THING WHEN I went with MY gut on this decision.

KERRY is the person I wish I was, and the person I HOPE to be.

KERRY, I'm going to miss you, as are a whole lot of other people I'm sure. I want you to know that I respect your decision, and I'm excited for you. This is gonna be good for you and your career. And I want you to know, you're way cooler than me :o)

*note: this post was co-written by Ms. Kerry herself. She likely doesn't remember, but I will never forget the words she wrote about me when I made my decision to leave Ottawa in October 2007. Kerry has a way with words that I only wish I could. So I took her post, edited it a bit and made it apply to the current situation at hand - my edits are in CAPS, Kerry's are in the normal sentence font.

Kerry is the type of manager I hope to be when I grow up. She's accomplished so much in her short carreer, and should be damn proud of herself. Strut your stuff Ker. You'll drop it like it's hott over there, and rest assured, you're leaving a legacy behind.

We have all learned from your leadership and your passion and have benefited from knowing you as a colleague, a leader, a friend.

You've inspired people.

You inspire me.