When things come full circle

I got a call yesterday that made me feel both happy and sad at the same time, but for different reasons. Just a little background........

I was sought out almost ten years ago to start a survey department for a small engineering and negotiated with them until I got what I needed to not set myself up for failure. When I officially accepted the offer letter, I went to work hunting down talent that I had worked with in the past and struck gold when I was able to attract a friend and one of the first PCs that I worked under as both Rod Man and IM. He, in turn, did the same and came up with an IM that had worked under him and we hit the ground running.

9 1/2 years later, we have between six and seven crews running and he was a major contributor to developing field people in calcs and sniffing out control, as well as best practice field procedures. The last year and a half has been rough on him, health wise, so, I got a call from him yesterday and giving me notice of his need to retire. I'm happy for him, we have known each other for over 40 years and are close friends, but, selfishly, I'm sad because I am losing one of the two most valued employees that I have.

I've had other people, very good people, working under me retire in the past but this one just feels different, more than likely for our personal friendship and the contributions to the success of the department.