It's Never Easy

As most of you know, this has not been the best summer of my life. Dave and I have been through some pretty rough things over the past couple of months. Not only did we experience the death of closed loved ones, we also had to find ourselves saying goodbye to dear friends.
Our team at school recieved word in the middle of summer that one of our team members was leaving our school to go to Schmucker Middle School. God bless her for loving those middle school kids...they are NOT an easy group to treasure. We have had the pleasure of teaching with Nancy for two years, and she is an amazing educator. She will be greatly missed by her friends at NP, but we wish her well and know that we will see her often.
Last week, towards the end of the week, we recieved word of another team member leaving. This one was a bit harder. Not that Nancy leaving meant less, but Melissa leaving hit deep. I've had the pleasure of teaching with Melissa for 3 years and she is such an amazing person. She has taught me so many of life's lessons since I've gotten to know her. One of the biggest lessons she's taught me is of God's love. She is deep into her religion and her faith is inspiring. Her and Nathan, her husband, were the host and hostess for Dave and I's wedding. She did a reading. They were the perfect fit. She is just an awesome lady. Nathan has worked hard for many years at Notre Dame on his Doctorate and graduated in May. While we all knew them moving away was a possibility, none of us wanted to believe it would be so soon. They recieved word last week they were going to Pittsburgh for a super opportunity for Nathan's work. This is such a good move for them...such a loss for us! I am going to miss Melissa more than words can say. She brought laughter and love into every situation she was involved in. I hope that distance does not get in the way of our friendship!
Just when we thought there was nothing else that we could/wanted to deal with...our favorite teacher's aide came in to school to resign. Again...great move for her and her family...bad loss for us. Good news--her son's in my class this year! HOORAY for me! I can't wait to have her and her husband as parents in my room...guaranteed to have at least one set that will be delightful!
Today, we had the opportunity to go to lunch with these fine ladies to thank them for their service to us and our kids. Saying goodbye is so hard. I hate it. I left by saying good luck to all, and good bye to none...I refused. I'm putting my foot down to anymore good byes...they are getting old. I wish all three of them the best...and hope that our friendship continues to grow and blossom, even through the miles!