the beginning of the end-so why am i sad?

as i sit here, typing away on my laptop, on my front porch, i'm basking in the sun of 5:22pm and as the wind flows over me, the smell of lilacs fills my body from the bush just by the road. perhaps i will get a little color here before i blind people's eyes with my beautiful dutch whiteness. it's almost perfect...almost.

as i should have expected, even though i've been looking far ahead to leaving morgantown, i should have known that leaving would be bitter/sweet. and more than just my apartment and the beautiful hillsides, i have met some amazing people here that will be sorely missed. as 'dead week' comes to a close (the week before finals) and finals week is the only week left before students leave for the summer, i have very few chances to spend time with my beloved students, and this makes me sad.

today, my students gave me a 'going away' party, fit with pizza, snacks, soda and even an icecream cake...a card went with that just might make me cry. they kept waiting and watching for me to cry while reading it...lol. they truly have been a blessing from God this year for me, and many of them i consider friends...young as they may be:) they had meant the party to be a surprise until one of the students let it slip...they are so cute!! and with one last trip to get icecream, and a movie in one of the laptops while we all squeezed on one couch to watch...the year as we know it is over. next week is finals, and so schedules will be different, and the week after, no students at all. and so, the beginning of the end.

i looked with little to no sadness at my last two classes this week. some students i'll never see again in my entire life, and it really phases me none. (my good friend wasn't there). i'm proud of my accomplishments and excited to be finished with it all...7/8 days of internship, two weeks til the big day of graduation and 20 days till i get to see my sis, bro, dad and mom. sounds like a plan to me, yet i will mourn the end of my GA. even with some crazy bosses who did make things difficult, the kids couldn't have been better.

i need to make plans for tonight..otherwise i fear i'll be quiet and pensive all evening. that's probably not the best of all situations:) and in all truth, after spending 2 years here, i'm glad that there is something that i'm sad to see go:) You will be missed, you will be missed.