It isn't the announcements, milestones, or working on the products day to day that I'll miss the most from Adobe. It's moments that crack me up.

Things like the song "Word Up" by Cameo. When I went into Gretchen's office she was playing the song and dancing along. I hadn't been her "lead" for that long, and things had been "serious business" on the project for awhile and quite stressful. I walked in, closed the door and we both danced the rest of the song like nerds. The time both Gretchen and I made the finals for the pinewood derby and seeing her let her nephew take the prize for his part. Gretchen amazes me. Seeing her bloom in confidence has been one of my favorite things in my career and the fact she is staying past this rif is a total moment of pride and happiness. I hope she continues to dance every time that song comes on no matter what pressure the job may bring. I'll still come have lunch with her, likely more often than I get to now. Gretchen came to support me the first time I presented in public, and her support is part of the reason I won Best Paper. She was there supporting me, making sure I couldn't get too terrified to talk. I am so thankful for that.

There is a photo in my office of Tiffany when she was a contractor the first year before I worked on her team. I believe this was from 2002. It's on Halloween and I'm dressed up as "Spanish Fly", so basically a spanish flare ruffled dress and dragonfly wings with bug eye glasses. She is dressed as devil schoolgirl rebel. We were having a great time and both are serious about Halloween and dressing up. She's been a friend for years and I believe we've learned from each other so much. She's the friend who taught me to take a break sometimes and that you can never own too many boots. She is the person who helped me take action and be bold when it was needed. I'm always soft, but sometimes when it is time to be strong or stop accepting excuses, I want to opt out. When bold action and constructive action in need and outrage SHOULD be the response Tiffany doesn't back down and she helps me realize that justified indignation can be a brilliant catalyst for positive change. I'll miss being able to come see her as regularly. Even the fact that she kept the cuddling skeletons I set up for her wedding shower decorations because it delighted her how I brought in their dark sense of humor makes me know that those memories will stay.

It's Chris and his amazing vintage cocktail hour with the authentic ingredients and how much he loves his dogs. His tastes really have changed how I look at the world. I own a purse that costs over $20 because of his encouragement. Relationship advice from Chris goes like this, "Make sure that your spouse knows more about how you feel than anyone else does." Also, "It is wrong to assume that bringing more money into the family means you can put less effort into the relationship. It doesn't work that way." Chris has changed how I view males. He is incredibly emotionally intelligent and sensitive and he sees things that other men overlook, so he's shown me some of the gender bias that I had built up and broken down some assumptions that "all men" are like this or like that. I feel like I see individuals to work with more rather than just "men are like this" or "men are like that". Chris is a very unique guy and I'll miss him. He also is a great person to ask a question about programming because he never ever treats you like an idiot. I believe he sees the potential in new programmers.

I have the flu right now, so now to lay back down and rest, but I just really enjoyed thinking about three team members who have really changed me for the better and these are things that make a team strong.