You know, sometimes you just… you get to a point in your career, like, maybe your fifties, where you’ve seen it all, right? The office politics, the reorganizations, the new hires who think they know everything. And for decades, you’re the one, you know, making sure the birthday cakes are ordered, coordinating the holiday party, even decorating the breakroom for Halloween. It was just… what you did. Part of the job, almost, even though it wasn't on any actual job description. And for a long time, I didn't even think about it. It was just part of showing up, part of being a team player, especially for a boss who, honestly, was really good to me. Like, REALLY good. She helped me through my divorce, actually, when things were just… a complete mess, you know? She was incredibly understanding, gave me time off, didn’t hold it against me when my focus was, well, elsewhere. So, yeah, I always felt this extra loyalty. Like, if she needed me to organize the annual picnic, I was *there*. But then you hit a certain age, and it’s like a switch flips. You just… stop. One year, I remember it was like, two weeks before the Christmas party, and someone asked me about the decorations, and I just said, "Oh, I'm not doing it this year." And the look on their face! Like I'd grown a second head. My boss, she didn’t say anything, but I could just *feel* her disappointment. And that’s the part that gets you, you know? Because she deserved my effort, she really did. She went out on a limb for me more than once. And I just… couldn’t anymore. The thought of finding a caterer, sending out RSVPs, figuring out who was allergic to what… it just felt like this HUGE burden. Like, I’d done my time. I’d done my time and then some. And I felt like a TOTAL jerk for it, because she was so good to me. Like, I owed her, big time. And you sit there, years later, retired now, and you still think about it. Did I let her down? Was it a betrayal, in a small way? Because it FEELS like it. You spend your whole life being "the reliable one," "the go-to person," and then one day you just… aren't. And it’s not even that you’re mad or anything, it’s just… you’re done. You want to tell yourself, "Hey, it’s just office parties, it’s not life or death," but it was more than that, wasn’t it? It was about loyalty, about showing up for someone who showed up for you. And I just… stopped. I mean, I don't even — whatever. It just bothers me sometimes, you know? Even now.