My first real firing caught me working hard trying to do everything since the senior people had already left. It took me two weeks to decompress enough to realize that the job was hurting me and my family. Once I worked through that, life got a lot better. I was still hurt and frustrated, but the change was good. I moved on.

The second time, well, I didn't recover so well. Dream job, dream company. Someone had an agenda that I still don't understand, and a lot of my confidence left as I walked out the door for the last time. Years later and I still feel the pain.

When life throws hard times at us, we're better off together than alone. Feel the grief. Eventually you'll feel the friendship. It can carry us through when we cannot stand on our own.