In about an hour, I'm meeting one of my colleagues from my old PR firm in Houston. He quit after I left in 2005 and got a job in the Houston office of one of my current firm's biggest clients. So we've gone from being colleagues to him becoming my client, although I don't work with him personally.
I rarely get a chance to have my former life and new life intersect. He's actually only the second person from my former life to visit me here in New York (Agnieszka Prime was the first). He and I used to sit in adjacent offices, and we had lunch together once after I quit, before I left Houston. Since it's been almost three years since we've seen each other, I'm kinda interested in what his reaction will be and I'm looking forward to hearing any gossip about me from my old firm.
There was a time in the past when this kind of conversation might have been uncomfortable for me, but I think I've reached a point where I am secure enough with my new life that I can talk about my previous life without attaching any emotional angst to it. It's almost like those years belong to someone else, and I'm just hearing stories that have nothing to do with me personally, but are still interesting - as if discussing characters in a book we've both read.
At least I hope that's the way I'll react. I guess we'll see in about an hour.
