Thank you all for being here today. I have been thinking a great deal lately about beginnings and endings, and I have come to realize that today is not really an ending at all. It only feels that way because we are standing so close to it. After forty years in the workforce, the last twenty right here with this company, I am closing a long and meaningful chapter of my life. But a book does not end when one chapter does, it simply turns the page and continues. For four decades, my identity was wrapped up in deadlines, meetings, and the particular satisfaction of solving problems for a living. That work mattered, and I am proud of it. But it was never the entire story, just one chapter among many still to be written. The next chapter holds things I have not had time for: long mornings with my spouse, unhurried visits with grandchildren who are growing up faster than I would like, a garden that has waited patiently for real attention, and perhaps a few adventures I have not even imagined yet. Change, even welcome change, carries a certain nervousness with it. I will not pretend I know exactly who I will be without a job title attached to my name. But I have learned over forty years that growth almost always lives on the other side of uncertainty, and I intend to walk toward this new chapter with the same curiosity I brought to my very first day of work. To everyone here who shaped this chapter of my story, thank you. You made the chapter rich, meaningful, and worth telling. As I turn the page, I do so with gratitude for everything behind me and genuine excitement for everything still ahead. Here is to new chapters, for all of us, whenever they arrive. Thank you, and take care of yourselves.
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