Whether anyone is reading this is beyond my ken. Two weeks of teaching time. One week of class left, sort of. This must mean good-bye. Good-bye is a loaded word with layers of lost meaning. The most common of our phrases often carry layers long forgotten. The Good has been traced to God, and the Bye has been connected with roads, traveling, and journeying. To say good-bye can be taken as a prayer, as an invocation, or as a blessing: God be with you on your journey. Or should I say pilgrimage? Pilgrimage is a better fit because I see life as a pilgrimage, as essntially a spiritual journey from the Here to the There, and once There on to the Next. On this pilgrimage some folks join us on the going. Some travel with us for a great long time, others for the briefest of moments- a quick passing and then gone. In a few rare instances paths reconnect, but this is seldom. Under Mary Ann's tutelage we have pilgrimaged for 16 weeks and have shared a bit of each other's lives. We may or may not meet again. Mutual paths may take us from from each other only to recross at the most unimaginable opportunity. Should that happen, we will rejoice at the meeting. Should it not, we have the joy of remembrance.
This all sounds like a good-bye (or is it God's Speed) but not yet. I'll keep poking away at this blog until I realize no one is reading it and then it shall fade into the internet ether. I'll leave the blog open ended.