Saying goodbye is never easy.
Saying goodbye means an end of one thing and the beginning of another.
In the past week I’ve had to say goodbye to two things and hello to the beginning of two new things.
First, as I tweeted last night, I realized last week was the last time I’ll be greeted at the top of the stairs by the 100+ pound Newfoundland, black lab mix named Shadow at my Dad’s house. This was a dog that knew the name of his toys. Seriously. “Go get Duckie!,” would result in a duck stuffed animal at your feet. He may have squeezed it to get a honk too. He was a beast that scared everyone, until he backed his rear into your legs to get a nice rear-end butt scratch. He’d bark to let you know not to stop.
I think the best part about Shadow as you could say, “Ready for a walk? Go get leash!” and he would come back with a leash. He would walk ahead (leash in his mouth), look back to make sure you were following, and keep walking but always checking to make sure you were behind him. My father likes to tell the story of the time they went walking in a dog run field. Shadow for whatever reason dropped his leash halfway through. A good ten minutes or so later my Dad turned to Shadow and went, “Ut oh! Where’s leash?!” Shadow took off in the other direction and came back with leash.
Worst part about Shadow? The dog would make you feel bad for leaving. Not me in particular. Only my father and step mom would get this sort of reaction out of him. The reaction? He could tell when they were going out for dinner. The perfume. The cologne. Shadow knew. What did Shadow do? Remember, 100+ pound Newfie. Shadow would bury his head behind the toilet. Absolutely ridiculous to walk into the bathroom and see a black fur mat between the toilet and tub. Not whimpering. Just laying there.
Without getting into details, the quality of life became an issue as Shadow was in his 13th year. My Dad and step mom rescued him from an abusive home when he was just a year old. He lived a ridiculous life and you could tell he knew it, the love was endless and unconditional. I think that’s why people get pets, their love is endless and unconditional. It’s a celebration anytime you walk in the door!
This week I’ll have to say hello to the new era of going to my Dad’s house without Shadow being at the top of the steps waiting to say hello. Ugh. Not a fun era to have to start. This…left me without words. Thank you doesn’t suffice just know it helped. Immensely.
That was the one of the goodbye/hello moments. The other…well the other I’m too excited to try and tie into some metaphor and analogy to the situation with Shadow and make sound it eloquent. With that I’m taking the advice SarahKPeck offered me. I’m just going to write and hit publish.
As many of you know, Robyn and I have been long distance since pretty much the inception of our relationship. It’s been 3 years. This explains why my car has almost 140K miles and it is not yet five years old. If you know that, you know that my position was posted and I was job searching and leaving Nichols job or no job.
Well…I have to say goodbye to my era at Nichols (in this role) and hello to a new era with Robyn in the same state!! That alone is cause for celebration…but it gets better…I won’t be unemployed!
Last week I accepted a position at the Borough of Manhattan Community College as the First Year and New Student Experience Specialist. I am stoked. Beyond stoked. I didn’t just accept a position at a new institution, I accepted a new life! Robyn and I get to live together. LIVE TOGETHER! Not just weekend trips and rushed errands. Live. L-i-v-e.
The position is brand new, exciting, and full of all sorts of potential. I can’t wait to be on a campus that is literally opposite of every campus I’ve been on when it comes to size and location (less than 5K students/private/suburban to 24K+ students/state/urban). I can’t wait to serve a community college. I can’t wait to be right in the middle of the city (Tribeca). I can’t wait for so many things that I’m grinning like the Cheshire Cat of Wonderland.
Every beginning means a goodbye somewhere and now it’s time to say goodbye to Nichols. It has been one heck of a run. I can honestly say I never saw myself coming back to Dudley in this capacity (or any capacity). Coming back to campus, serving in this role, and working with the students that Nichols accepts reminded me of what a great place this is. It has renewed my love of being a Bison so much so that I am currently pursuing ways to get involved in the Alumni Board of Directors. More on that later…hopefully.
For now…I’m moving to New York (Forest Hills, Queens!) and starting my new position in May. As the Class of 2012 crosses the stage and move on to their new careers, I will cross campus for one of the last times as the Director of the Center for Student Involvement and be moving on to continue the career that Nichols (without knowing) prepared me for.
Hello life. I can’t wait.
