When I started my new job in Raleigh in 2012, the last thing I expected was to make a lifelong friend with one of my millennial employees, Atif.
I’ve had work friends before. We built team with genuine camaraderie – sharing inside jokes, pitching in to complete difficult projects, and helping each other out. When I was younger I socialized with my work friends a lot. We’d eat lunch together, hang out after work, and help each other move, build shelves, fix cars and deal with women.
By 2012, I had stopped socializing with my colleagues. I had little time outside of work and wanted to spend it with my wife and pets. So my interactions with my coworkers was limited to working hours. Occasionally I’d join them for lunch or an after hours event. Most often, our interactions were work related.
After I had left for another job, Atif, who was one of my most valuable employees, reached out too me. He was dissatisfied with his career progression. On thing led to another and I hired him to join my team at the new company. We worked closely together for another 2.5 years until I left that job.
I relocated from Raleigh back to Florida. Over the next few years, Atif would reach out to me periodically to chat about work and life.
When I moved back to Raleigh in 2019 after my wife’s death and my disastrous road trip, Atif was the first person to welcome me back and invite me out for coffee. He’s such a mensch.
Since then, we’ve gotten together every few months in person until Covid shut down society for a year. But earlier this summer, as vaccines rolled out and restrictions loosened, we were finally able to meet in person again.
I visited the townhouse he had just purchased and then we hung out in a coffee shop catching up for hours discussing philosophy, religion, family, work, investing, education and life.
At one point he said, “Do you realize we’ve known each other for almost 10 years?”
I hadn’t until he said it. But since then I’ve thought about it a lot. We’ve been friends for nearly a decade. That’s twice as long as I’ve ever lived in any location. He joins my other 3 long time friends who I’ve known for 17-28 years. During this span:
- We worked together at two different companies
- He brought his family to the US
- I relocated to Florida, the desert and finally returned to Raleigh
- Dozens of our old colleagues started new jobs, got married, had babies & started companies
- My wife died and I retired
- He’s had several jobs as he moves up the career ladder
10 years has passed. Almost in the blink of an eye.
It’s good to recognize this milestone.