Goodbye, say hello

It’s my last day. I’ve been thinking Friday, Friday, Friday, but today is my last day to get things done. As the day approaches, everyone’s first question has become, “Are you excited?”, but I know it is a rhetorical question. So I say yes, of course. But I don’t know if I am. I think I am so task oriented right now – I have been dreaming to-do lists – that I don’t have time or space for excitement. Maybe it’s that there is so much uncertainty I’m not sure what to be excited about, other than the great vague adventure I am sure awaits me.

Aside from all of the mundane daily preparations, which amount to driving a rut into the same streets several times a day, there have been the goodbyes. Having recently graduated, my friendships are already dispersed, so there are perhaps fewer goodbyes than usual, but that doesn’t make the remaining ones any less difficult. Saying goodbye is always the worst part of beginning an adventure. If I could fit everyone into my carry-on or give everyone a permanent portkey to wherever I am (I have been re-reading Harry Potter during my down time), I would have fewer qualms about my departure. But, as I am often reminded, the modern age is full of technological marvels, and as long as schedules can be arranged, contact can be maintained.

Whether you read every new post as soon as it is posted or check in every week or so, I appreciate your company. But here’s the thing: if you don’t tell me you’re reading, I won’t know it, so here comes a request. Leave me comments. Pick a reaction from the options at the bottom of the post. Send me emails. Send me postcards. Skype me. Keep in touch with me, whatever your communication style. As much as I’ll be trying to integrate into my new setting, don’t let me feel like I’ve been forgotten on the other side of the world. I’ll need your love and support.

T-minus 22 hours, 50 minutes, …

P.S. I have found a lucky penny almost every day since finding that $2 bill.