Depature of D

One shocking news I heard today was that one of my BA lead was leaving our account. In middle of work, I just felt like asking him , what happened ? why he took this decision ? etc. as I was running for a meeting, I couldn't immediately mail or ping him. We arranged for a quick happy hour in one of the restaurants close to our office. We bought him a card and gift. I haven't interacted much with him, as only for the past three months I have been added to the BA group.
I have seen one of his presentations in our team meetings, they were very impressive. Though he was old (close to fifties), he had never-die attitude. Whenever I met I only felt like listening to him, as his talks were very staggering and motivating.

Today only three of us from the entire group of 25 members went for his final send off. Initially myself and my friend planned to spend only 30 minutes with him and thought to leave home at 5.30. But after seeing the head count, we decided to spend some more time with him. As usual he mesmerized us with his talks on varied subjects. We touched upon all the topics ranging from sports to education . He ensured to involve everyone in that one hour conversation. I loved one of his quote... life should be filled with fun and shouldn't be serious.
We had some snacks and juice and chit-chatted for a long time. We hook hands to say our final good bye and left the place. On the way to our place we discussed, why the head count was less for such a respectable man in the account. I have missed many send off's in office due to production issues, but today I realized the importance of being with someone when they say a final good bye. Our presence even for couple of minutes with them shows how much we care ,respect and value them.