From the Private Sphere to the Public Sphere, with a Heavy Heart

From: XXXXX
Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 5:29 PM
To: ALL
Subject: Farewell


It is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to my friends and colleagues here at XXXX. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to practice with and learn from such skilled and dedicated attorneys, and it has been a pleasure to work with such talented staff members. I am particularly grateful for all of the close friendships that I have made during my two years here, and I trust that we will stay in touch despite my departure.


Beginning next Monday, I will be joining the Office of the Federal Defender for the Eastern District of XXXX. While I look forward to the challenges ahead, I know that I will miss my time here and remember it fondly.


My permanent email address is XXXX, and my phone number will remain the same: XXXX. Please keep in touch.


Best,
XXXX

___________________________________________________________________________
The "+":

• Balances touchy-feely phrases ("heavy heart," "remember it fondly") with concise, matter-of-fact reporting.

The "-":

• Yeah yeah yeah, ok, so you did it.  You know what I mean.  You did it.  It.  What we all said we were going to do.  What we swore we were going to do.  To our social worker friends, to creative types in hipster bars, to job interviewers who had earned their stripes in the public sphere, to our pale and flabby gut as it hung over our toes, kindly blocking our view of the scale, to ourselves when we didn't do pro bono in 2006 (like, literally none).  Obviously, we didn't do It and somehow you defied the odds and did It.  So fine, good-luck, go ahead, get redeemed or whatever.  Just... can you just, at least, I don't know... stay kind of flabby and sun-starved, for at least a little while longer?