Co-worker I’ve worked with since 2012 retired today. 

A seasoned carpenter and salt of the earth. 

Taught me how to hang doors, shingle, and not to take life too seriously. 

Didn’t see eye to eye and disagreed more often than not. 

Gonna miss that (self-described) ornery old fella.

around that time, there were ~10 people in the shop for the morning meet/updates in the maintenance dept, plus the summer help. 
I belonged to the latter at the time, and was the 'young buck' for many years still after going full-time.

I was surrounded by a wealth of knowledge; between skilled trades, keeping physically safe in the moment & long-term, and locker room banter that would make a degenerate blush.

through the years there's been the usual turnover; people leaving/retiring/the odd firing, but two OGs remained til recently.

i had my morning coffee alone in the workshop today.

my earlier days, i'd typically roll in closer to start time, empty handed, and was greeted by a table of gms from people who had gotten there 20 minutes previous with coffees in hand.

a part of me thought it was silly they were sitting around early when they didn't get paid til the shift started.

the first retired last week. 

the second, someone I would call family and watched out for me like a father, wasn't there at the start of the week for health.