July 24 was the final time I clocked out of The West Bridgewater Charlie Horse. I wish I knew that when I hit "time card" for the very last time. I probably would've given a few staff members some hugs and maybe shed a few tears. Instead I woke up on August 1 to find out that I no longer had a job. I planned on going back to work right when I got home from Chicago. I wasn't sure why I woke up to 36 text messages and quite a few facebook messages. All of the messages started off with "Do you know what's going on at the horse?" Of course I didn't! I hadn't even put my glasses on yet. I scrolled through Facebook and found a statement directly from the official page. My heart sank. I shot right up and instantly felt the tears come to my eyes. I wasn't mad that I was out of a job. I was mad because my second family was gone. I wasn't ready to say goodbye. I would much rather reflect on the positive than dwell on the negative. My time at The Charlie Horse is something I will never forget.

I started off as a server and was given the chance to be a hostess. As much as I enjoyed serving, hostessing was a much better fit for me. I made great friends with the hosts. Every shift felt like a get together with friends. It never actually felt like work. The managers were great. They'd always say 'hi' and check in on you. I felt like I spent more time with them than I did my actually family. One of the managers actually adopted the nickname, "Dad" because of how often we saw him. It always felt like a giant family. I had the pleasure of working with incredible people. I wish I had one last shift with all of them.

The hostesses became my best friends in what felt like overnight. I had never met a group of girls who got along so well. The dynamic between them was great. All us had a pretty decent sense of humor and could talk for hours on end. I can't count how many times we congregated around Keno and would get asked to go back to our stations. Somehow we'd always find ourselves back there. If it was a quiet night we would have "family dinner". It was nice to be able to sit down and catch up with each other. I appreciated the obsessive snapchatting, the witty jokes and stealing sweet potato fries from each other. I don't think I will ever work with a group of girls who share such a strong bond.

There are so many memories that I will forever hold close to my heart. I vividly remember Lonestar playing a show there. That was the night I found out one of my favorite coworkers would be leaving in a few weeks. Emotions were flying high that night. I was working with my favorite people and I was listening to great music. During their set my best friend Paige and I found ourselves crying. For some reason their song "Amazed" always made us emotional and we always joked about breaking down and crying over it. I guess that joke became a reality. I remember we wrapped each other in a big hug and cried even harder. For some reason I felt so at home that night.

Last winter, I vividly remember heading to work when the weather was terrible. The visibility was very low and the snow kept coming down. I remember thinking to myself if anyone comes into eat tonight they're actually insane. I spun out right before my exit but I made it to work safely. About twenty minutes into my shift the power went out. The entire restaurant was pitch black. We ended up using glow sticks from the prize counter to light up tables customers were at. A bunch of us sat around a hightop in hopes that they power would go back on. I remember it as a bonding experience, something that made us all feel more like a family. Especially, in a time of crisis.

I wish I could write about all the amazing memories, there are far too many and I would hate to bore you with all of the stories I hold close to my heart. I will always carry the lessons I learned with me. I was devastated to learn I would be out of a job. The fact that I would be out of a job didn't bother me as much as losing a safe place. My entire second family was broken apart before I knew. The last lesson I'm taking with me is that whenever one door closes another door opens. I have nothing but love for every individual I worked with. The future holds much more than we can ever imagine.