Today was the last day of work for one of my co-workers.  It’s weird to call him that, he was a friend for a long time before he was a co-worker, but it’s the co-working part of our relationship that’s coming to an end.

We’ve worked together for more than three and a half years, and in that time, we were able to build some really cool stuff.  We worked together so well that at one point, when we were the only two developers, we were routinely referred to as “Navid,” a portmanteau of our first names.

I will miss him for many reasons, but one sticks out in my mind.  It took me nearly all of the four weeks notice he gave us to finally realize that I’ll miss him because of how much he challenged me.  He was always learning.  And, everything he learned about was relevant to our development in a significant way.  He’d routinely start sentences like “So I read this book over the weekend on data warehousing…” or “Do you know what’s so cool about python decorators?”  When he did, I knew that for the next hour or two of my life, I would be treated to a session of mind expanding dialog.  I know I am not the same person today that I would have been if it weren’t for the last few years, working with him.

So, I’m going to miss him.

I am happy beyond words for the changes he and his family are able to undertake, but I’ll miss him.

Thanks for the time, Dave.  We’ll work together again sometime.