More Farewells

To the few of you whom I've come to call friends and love as I would my own siblings, this is for you.

Parting's always difficult, as one of you has noted, no matter how often one experiences it. It's difficult leaving behind the people that truly matter - and people I love have always been the most important thing in my life.

Thank you for a good 3 years. Thank you for making such effort to know me despite my initial reluctance (I'm cautious of getting to know teenagers too quickly too soon much less call them friend). Thank you for your company and for the joy you've brought to me; it certainly came in all shapes and sizes. Thank you for caring. You're the few that I've taught most too - about things that textbooks and classroom lessons would never reveal. I hope they've made sense to you in some way. It makes leaving at this juncture more difficult because we seem to only be beginning.

I have to go but I won't be gone forever. Things may or may not change and often life remains unpredictable in many ways. We just do what we can to hold on to the things that are important, and pray for what we can't and have no control over. But this much I promise, I'll always be here for you guys. Just don't be a stranger and understand that it takes two hands to clap ...

Take good care of yourselves. Before long you'll be graduating. Hold on tight and ride the waves to the best of your abilities but also know the ocean is much larger than this crest you are on.

Goodbye kids. I'll miss you guys in particular.

KJ - I'll be fine.