I took Jorge and Diane, my employers and dear friends of 5 years, to dinner tonight to break the news. Actually, in the end they took me to dinner, but I invited them and they insisted, so that’s a story for another day. We went to Orsay, a mod French-American place in Jacksonville’s Avondale neighborhood, and we shot the breeze until dinner was pretty much done. Then Jorge popped the question. He didn’t phrase it exactly how I expected, but I suspect he was testing the waters. “So, are you happy here?”

Of course I’m happy. I’ve always been happy at Brunet-García. It’s a great place to work. But as King James says, “to every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” I’ve done my turn for the time being, and it’s time to get away, like I always said I would. It’s been an incredible run, and I wouldn’t ask for anything else of it. I’ve learned nearly everything I’ve needed to know about the ad business so far from my experiences with Diane and Jorge, my coworkers and our clients at Brunet-García. It’s hard to go, but luckily, they’ve invited me to be a guest blogger on Culturefried, BG’s blog, so the family ties do remain intact for now. What an honor, and what a relief! I only hope I can find a workplace so warm, fun, interesting and constantly challenging as BG once I get to New Zealand.

Thanks Diane and Jorge, and I look forward to Friday’s Christmas party, appropriately themed the “Bon Bon Voyage!”