Constant Change

I attended a farewell dinner for some colleagues who move on to new jobs. Three of them are posted in China, and another one is leaving the company for good, for better opportunity. It was a nice farewell dinner together.

I do not really have the opportunity to spend time with my colleagues outside work. This kind of farewell dinner is not cheap. Besides, as a working mother, I just feel guilty that I do not spend enough time with my children, yet I have time for other people. So, it's really rare occasion that I go out and join my colleagues for dinner out with them.

But, this time around, it just makes perfect sense since it's the farewell of 3 people at the cost of one dinner. So, economics of scale applied here, and the dinner cost was averaged down significantly. And one colleague is someone that I work with (albeit indirectly) for quite sometime.
And I can only say, it's really fun to mingle with the colleagues.
I have to say that I enjoyed this dinner. Seeing the people I spend most of my time with in a different limelight. Some of them really turned into wild party animals. Amazing!!!
The thing that saddened me was since the dinner served as farewell to our colleagues.

I am a creature of routines, and I do not adapt well to changes. So, I really have mixed feelings about seeing the people I know move on to their new endeavor. True, for them it is better opportunity. But still, I just hate not seeing them in the office, or establish new working relationship with other people. I just hate changes!
And since early this year, there has been many changes, even in my team. One by one, people start to leave, and new faces come in. I guess, it's true, the only thing that remains constant in life is change.
Still...so sad to let them go..