I guess I retired a few months ago, after like, forty years of working. And it’s… weird. Like, really weird. I used to be an executive, you know, at a big company, and that was me. That was my identity, kind of. I mean, my whole life was wrapped up in it, the long hours, the travel, the projects. I was good at it, too. And I worked my way up, slowly, from the bottom, really. I remember when I got that last promotion, it was, what, almost ten years ago now? I was 47 then. And I thought it was what I wanted, you know? To be in charge, to have that power, to make the decisions. To finally be seen. But it all just… changed everything. Before that, I had my work friends. We’d go out for drinks on Fridays, or lunch sometimes, complain about the bosses, kind of like a little family, I guess. We were all in it together. But when I got promoted, suddenly I was the boss. And it was like, overnight, they just… stopped seeing me as one of them. The invitations dried up. The jokes in the hallway didn’t involve me anymore. It was always “management this” and “management that,” and I was “management.” I tried to bridge the gap, I really did. I’d try to join their conversations, offer to grab coffee, but it just felt… awkward. Like I was crashing their party. They’d get quiet when I walked by, or change the subject. It was like I was invisible, but also constantly being watched. And I guess that’s kind of how I feel now. Invisible. Like, my days are just… empty. I don't know what to do with myself. All those years, I chased that promotion, that title, thinking it would make me happy, make me feel important. And it did, for a bit. But it cost me something too, something I didn’t even realize I had until it was gone. Those friendships, that camaraderie, that feeling of belonging. I sort of traded it all in for a corner office and a bigger paycheck. And now that it’s all over, and I’m just… here, in my house, every day, I keep wondering if it was worth it. If I made the right choices. I mean, what was it all for, really? Just to be alone now? It’s a pretty isolating feeling, I guess. I just didn't see it coming. Didn't see any of it coming.