A Time To Realize

We went to a friend's retirement party…celebrating the end of her long and storied teaching career… It was a day of mixed emotions…joy and laughter… a few tears. Stepping into a retirement party is like stepping into a time machine… surrounded by memories of not only her first and last year of teaching… but of all those memories in between. Former students all grown up now…parents…teachers… her husband, children and grandchildren were there too… celebrating her adventure in teaching…and bidding that adventure adieu. When she was teaching every day I imagine…she didn't think about this much… but her retirement party was a time to realize all the people she has touched. All the friends that she has made since the first day she was hired… all the joy and knowledge she has given…all the people she inspired. We left her surrounded by her family…on her face…her famous grin…. with one long adventure just completed…and another…ready to begin.