Less than two weeks ...

Oh, my ... less than two weeks left on the job although I'm employed through the end of December. But on December 20th, I'll be packing my office and headed home for the final time. I'm trying to stay as busy as possible ... to put some distance between my emotions and the "day of." Tomorrow is my final all-staff meeting ... where our staff gather from Lincoln, Omaha, and Kearney--and that's likely to be a tough one. It's not like this is a "there's no crying in baseball" kind of place. We have shed tears here ... and I can only describe us all as grief-stricken for the days we struggled to understand Tammi's ... one of my directors ... untimely death. 

But the sadness that I feel is upon retiring is so one-sided. For the most part, my staff will miss me but they also understand that one reaches a "certain age" and that retirement is the natural course of events. I could have stayed, had I wished to stay longer. And while I will miss EducationQuest, I can actually look at my work here and say ... good things were accomplished.

It is more an "end of an a" kind of sadness ... professionally, not personally! And yes, it is the end. I do not intend to spend time volunteering ... however worthy the cause. Had I wanted to stay engaged in the "helping" industry, I would have stayed put ... with the remuneration just a bonus! Because helping people is what EducationQuest does ... or it helps people to help themselves by accessing higher education ... two OR four year! 

This morning I had breakfast with my "old" (meaning previous boss) and that was fun. She's a bit older than I am and plans on retiring soon herself. The more the merrier is what I say ... and, of course, some of my "merriment" will be with my friends who are teachers ... and have been retired for a few years ... and one of my good friends who retires on the same day that I do!!

Yes, I'm counting on my friends to see me through these transition days ahead ... so in their honor, I offer Garth Brooks  ... who is the king of C/W as far as I'm concerned!