I’ve gotten many of these

This is an email I got from someone today. Ever since my resignation was announced I’ve been getting three or four of these every day:

From: Deborah D.
Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2006 10:15 AM
Subject: Best Wishes!

Dear Rob:

I want to thank you for helping Roger and I out when we first ventured into the world of SAP and Impromptu. You brought sense to the madness and were very gracious with your time!

I am sorry that we are losing you, but I wish you well in your future adventures!

Take care,
Debbie

I love getting these! And there are, like, 30 people coming to my goodbye lunch today! It really makes me feel good to know that so many people feel this way. Its easy to go along, day after day, not getting much feedback and believe that what you’re doing doesn’t make a difference. I mean, for all the different ways I try to do a good job I often don’t hear back that it matters. And I have to confess that it isn’t easy. It would be easier to be a little bitter and tell people to screw off when they’re asking too much or when they’re bothering me. But I’m coming to believe that people really do appreciate the effort I go to try and do a good job. By that I don’t just mean getting the work done, but being considerate of peoples’ feelings and trying to work with them to accomplish our goals in a cooperative manner. I’ve tried being more or less forceful and I think I’m at a good place now in how I work with others.

So things like this email and the high turn out for this lunch are meaningful to me.