The Week of Goodbyes

I am calling these past seven days, "The Week of Goodbyes." Some of the goodbyes have been bittersweet, some humorous, some sad, and some have been felt nationwide. Here are five goodbyes from this week:

Goodbye to two students who moved away
I am at a school with a lot of mobility. It is not unusual for students to move in and back out of my classroom within weeks. However, these two students were kids who had been with me since the school had opened. One of these kids had made tremendous growth in behavior this year, and the other one had overcome her shyness to play a role in our spring musical last year. I was sad to see them go so suddenly. One little boy keeps teasing me and telling me he is moving to California. When I threaten to hide him under my risers so that he can't leave, he grins and says, "Just kidding."

Goodbye to those two front teeth
Yes, this is the time of year that the six-year-old kiddos start losing teeth by the truckload. I can hardly walk down the hall without coming across little ones with plastic tooth carriers hanging from their necks. (If you have ever worked in an elementary school, you have probably encountered those contraptions at one time or another.) Hence, the popularity of the song "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" during the month of December.

Goodbye to our student teacher
Friday was my student teacher's last day, and as you can see from the picture on the left, the kids will really miss him. The comments I heard on Friday ranged from, "I don't want you to leave," to "You'll come back to visit, right?" And he thought he was going to be a better band teacher than a general music teacher! But I know he will be moving on to better things. And the kids understand to the extent that they can understand this adult world truth: A paying job is always a plus in the end.

Goodbye to George McGovern
An American political icon died this week. His anti-war stance forty-plus years ago still rings true for much of my generation - a generation born at the end of Vietnam, then thrust into a couple of decade-long wars where we saw our younger siblings, friends, and, for me, students sent off to fight and sometimes die for a cause that not all of us accept as war-worthy. One thing is for certain. If I had been alive and an adult during the Watergate scandal, my car probably would have been donning the famous "Don't blame me - I voted for McGovern" bumper sticker.

Goodbye to Nellie
My family suffered a sad loss when they had to put their pet dog, Nellie, to sleep. She was a member of the family. My stepsister referred to her as her little sister. My father fed her bananas every morning at the breakfast table. She provided the entertainment for us every time Dan and I visited. Even though we aren't a part of that household, we will miss her energetic personality when we go to Twin Falls. And I know that Nellie's passing has left a Mini-Schnauzer sized hole in the lives of my family who shared their home with her.

RIP, little Nellie.

 

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