Send-offs

Yesterday, OIT did the standard campuswide farewell reception for me. These farewells are not exactly my favorite thing so I was relieved when mine was announced as only lasting one hour late on a Wednesday. I'm just not a big fan of making small talk.

I guess I have to eat those words this time, though, because it really was neat to see so many folks from across campus and get to say good-bye. When it comes right down to time to leave, you do realize that you've formed some neat friendships over the years and that you really will miss working with these people. The hour flew by.

Today, I took John and Kathy out for lunch . . . the three of us are the only ones left in the Admissions Office from my first day on campus in May 2000. We've been through some great times and some tough times together and it was nice to sit in Blondie's, a little hole-in-the-wall, old fashioned burger place downtown, and chat for an hour or so. I don't know what I would have done most of the time if not for them.

And tonight we had a little office get-together, originally planned for Wiard Park but pulled back into just a lounge area in the College Union because the weather has been so chilly this week. (I scraped ice off my windshield yesterday. It's wrong; just plain wrong!) The staff "surprised" me with a beautiful photograph of Mount Shasta. Surprised is in quotes because a few weeks ago I pulled Kathy aside and told her that if they were going to get me a going away gift, I'd really like a picture of Shasta. Okay, maybe I'm crass, but I did get exactly what I'd hoped for! And Jeannette says it'll fit in great with her decorating ideas for our basement in Fort Wayne.

Actually, the picture was indeed a surprise because it wasn't what I had imagined at all, as I've never seen a picture of Shasta taken at that time of day. It's beautiful, though, and especially meaningful because it shows the view from Hogback, where Jordan and I hiked in March (see my March 17 post) and our neighborhood is vaguely visible in the foreground. It's basically the view that I have every day as I drive to work and every day it reminds me of God's majesty and power and presence. I am really going to miss that view when we get to Indiana!