end of a chapter.

We had a wonderful weekend with little friend Megan, visiting from California... on what has been the coldest weekend in Michigan this winter! Poor girl! But she was a good sport. Our delightful weekend included: airport arrival at 1:00am on Friday night, discussions about education, pancake breakfast, boutiquing, afternoon tea at "Sweet Afton," homemade salmon pizza, game night at the Partons (our friend Mike also came over & taught us 2 new great games: a variation on pictionary and a variation on Scrabble!), brownie sundaes, omelettes (made by Megan!), a driving tour of downtown Detroit (accompanied by Doug and Tim), pictures, laughter, trips down memory lane, planning future excursions, and in general, just sweet friendship. I'm so thankful that we've been able to stay in touch even though we live on opposite sides of the continent.

love my little friend.

~
This next section I write with a very heavy heart.

Yesterday I got a call from Last Chance Academy, informing me that I have been laid off. I haven't really had any time to process this, so I won't write too much on the topic. I don't even really know what to say. The school had to cut back on students, which means they just don't need as many teachers. I know it's nothing I did, and they even told me that I've done a great job, but I can't help feeling like I could have done better. There must be something I could have done differently, something to better help the students, something to make more of a difference...

I feel like a complete failure. I feel confused, disappointed, betrayed, hurt... but above all else, I just feel heartbroken. I know I complained about my job a lot - it was hard and sometimes just flat out awful... but... I love those kids. I invested so much in them, and it's so painful to just be told one day okay, time's up - that's it.