Farewells

Summer is ending.

I hate endings.

Really.  I have had such a good summer!  I have slept in more often than not.  I had one and only one goal this summer... exercise.  So, when my daily workout was complete, I was off the hook and could be as lazy as possible!  I have spent quite a few days playing at the pool with my little nieces, aged 3 and 18 months.  Those are some fun times!  I've been biking all over the valley, hiking, kayaking, windsurfing, swimming, running, having backyard bonfires... and all with no schedules!  I usually take off the watch for the summer, but this summer I kept it on because it is a waterproof lap timing watch that is useful when I swim.

And despite the lovely rash, I have enjoyed every single moment of this summer!

But it is almost over.

I officially go back to work next Thursday (a week from tomorrow, gasp!), but I still have to go put my classroom back in order before then.  I won't get paid for it, of course.  It just seems to be another one of those ways that teacher get taken for granted.  We are expected to have a classroom put together and ready for the school year, but we aren't given the paid time in which to do it.  I am not complaining, though.  My classroom is easier to set up than most, and I know many of the other teachers I work with have already spent many hours in the school getting ready for school to start.  I am likely the last one to straggle in and get my room ready.

But this post isn't just about saying farewell to summer.  An even bigger farewell happened just yesterday.  Helena's boyfriend, Dagen, left today to serve a two year mission for our church.  Yesterday they had to say their goodbyes.  They won't be able to see each other, or even call/text each other during those two years, so they'll have to rely on more archaic forms of communication.  I think they can e-mail (which is archaic to them) and they can certainly use snail mail.  In fact, Helena is already planning some cute care packages to send his way.

She won't be putting her social life on hold for two years, however.  She'll still go out with friends, and probably even date other guys.  But I certainly hope she'll keep all her socializing very casual and friendly so that she is still single when he comes home.  She'll only be 20 when he gets back, after all!  Still too young to get married, in my opinion.

I'm not saying I want her to marry Dagen, either.  I'm not ready to even entertain the thought, no matter who she ends up marrying.  She got a wedding invite in the mail today for a girl she was in Orchestra with!  This girl was a senior when she was a junior.  So she is getting married at the age of 19.  Gah!  That freaked me out.  I remember her from when I volunteered as a chaperon on an orchestra trip and it blows my mind that she is stepping from childhood so early.  Nineteen is still a teen, after all!

Phooey.  I'm rambling.  My thoughts on the whole subject are rather pointed and skewed by the fact that I am the mother.  I am just happy for her to keep living at home, and... how do I say this?  I am happy for her to have this experience of dating a boy who is willing to put his life on hold for two years over his religious convictions.  I'd have felt the same if he went and joined the Peace Corps for those two years if that was his passion.  It shows he is a young man of purpose and character, and I am glad she chose such a fine young man to be her boyfriend.  So I don't see this farewell as a tragedy.  Rather, I see it as a growing experience for both of them.

So, farewell, Dagen!  You probably never knew exactly how I felt about you dating my daughter.  What with the whole 'get home by curfew' business and being your girlfriend's parent, you probably thought I didn't like you.  Quite the contrary.  I think you are a fine young man!  Good luck, do well, and you have all of us rooting for you back here at home.

Farewell!