Goodbye

Adventure 57 is fast coming to a close. I will be in WW August 1.

As I packed up my last few classroom items and carted boxes of teacher paraphenalia to the car, I thought to myself: "This is it. I'm actually leaving." I was alone in preschool wing. I remembered last fall's walk into the preschool building alone to see what it looked like. And now the unfamiliar has become 'home'. Every nook and cranny is familiar. The room has been emptied of anything that says I was there, except that there is 1/2 as much furniture and it is all pushed up against the wall with only the computer desk sitting out. The computer is turned off, standing by itself.

I walk through the preschool wing. All packed up for summer. Memories remind me of fun times, frustrating times with kids. I see their smiling little faces swinging, sliding. I see them sitting at the corner table or engaged as a group at circle. I hear the echo of their voices, their laughter and their screams. I think about how much i got to know them, how they learned and changed, even when they (and I) didn't think they would. I sigh.

I did this. I moved away from a place I'd been for 34 years and made it through a year without any horrible crises. I made friends with colleagues, parents of students. I was able to function well as a team player. I actually felt like I knew my job most of the time. It's not like I didn't learn anything this year. It was a steep learning curve, but I did it. They will always be my friends. We may not meet again, but they each have their place in my heart and mind. I appreciated their talents, their efforts at making me feel welcome, of working with me when the way was hard. Now I have my dear friends in River City, my new friends in OH and soon, I'll be making friends in WW.

The moving plans are in motion.

After loading all my 'stuff' into my car, I take my keys to the office and say goodbye there. As I walk toward my car, the classroom is dark, locked. I scan the scene: the school, the playground, the door, the rose trellis, the parking lot. I drive away. Goodbye OH school! Goodbye playground with bald eagles and Navy jets flying over! Goodbye!