A New Adventure

For the past 3.5 months, I have been riding the roller coaster of a corporate merger and today is my first day as an employee of the NEW Essex! It has certainly been a bittersweet, emotional couple of days since the official "yes" vote came through from our shareholders.

BRE Properties (the company I have worked for for the past 3.5 years, up until yesterday) has been such an amazing company to work for. I have felt like I have been a part of a huge, loving, supportive family and I am so happy that I get to enjoy this next chapter with (almost) everyone.

Change is scary and exciting and I am 99% ready for the change coming our way, but I have allowed myself to mourn the loss of the family that I have known for several years. I think it is absolutely necessary to allow yourself to feel anything and everything in order to fully appreciate the experience.

A couple of weeks ago we had our Annual Leadership Conference. This is when we all get together and celebrate the successes of the previous year with fun awards and look forward to what our goals are going to be for the upcoming year.

However, things were a little different this time. We still had our awards ceremony, but it was more of a reflection and celebration of the past 43 years as a company. At the end of the day, it felt like the last day of school. The sun was shining, and we all said goodbye to each other, knowing that we would never have this same moment again. If I had had a yearbook, I know it would have been filled with "stay cool"'s and "have a great summer"'s. The next time we are in the same room, it will be a whole new class, and we will be the freshmen.

So now we embark on a new adventure, as part of a family that will be 3 times the size it was before. There will be growing pains and good times, and ultimately a wonderfully challenging experience for all of us.

"It's time to say goodbye, but I think goodbyes are sad and I would much rather say hello. Hello to a new adventure."

~Ernie Harwell

I plan on taking a big ol' step onto this new, uncharted path with zero little (I am still human after all!!) hesitation and enjoying the scenery, and I encourage you all to do the same whenever you have the chance. You never know what will be around the next corner! Cheers to new places and new faces!

It's time to say goodbye, but I think goodbyes are sad and I'd much rather say hello. Hello to a new adventure.

Ernie Harwell

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/adventure.html#D3JybA7bPa847Whm.