Good byes

A late fall hike

I wouldn't have gotten my job without her. She was my student. My boss assigned me to her as she had an ABA background, and my boss felt I would be a better fit for me. If she hadn't been my student, I wouldn't be where I am at now, and I wouldn't have been at my amazing work during my last cancer.

Now, she is leaving. Her husband's taken a job on another coast where houses are as palatial as the summer's soaring temperatures. It was easier when we were leaving this place together. Now she gets on the plane, and I stay here. I've never been the friend who's been left behind. I've always been the one to do the leaving.

I'm so happy she is going. She can work with her degree there. If she chooses not to work, she can stay home with her kiddos. Mostly, I am happy for her.

Good byes are hard though. I feel like I've said them to her 5 million times since I found out she was leaving for sure. I can't really express how much I miss her and how grateful I am to her for who she is and how she lives.

She is one of my rocks; a co-survivor who walked my second cancer with me. Much as Rose and Sunshine's mom walked with me through my first journey, Rainbow's mom was there as I struggled this last time.  She arranged meals, took me to lunch, and kept me sane.

She taught me grace. She reawakened my thirst for faith, and she enlarged my heart to make room for tolerance. There's someone in her new place waiting for these lessons, and I wish them all the best.  They were hard. They painfully bent, twisted, and stretched me into someone I had forgotten I was.

S, fly where you are needed and know that you are perfectly suited to whatever task you face. I will miss you, but I'm glad you are going away.

A token