Tide Tables

Today when I picked the girls up from school I paused to watch the Safety Patrol's outgoing 5th graders train the new 4th graders, carrying out their street corner duties with enthusiasm.  I listened to Big Sis bemoan the impending retirement of two of her beloved teachers, with only days left in her school year.  Summer means awesome renewal but also transitions in family routines.  I'm feeling the bittersweetness of the changing of guards and trying not to be fearful of and resistant to change.

I have deep sadness that my "Work Husband," our principal, is moving on to a new professional challenge.  We took our jobs together seven years ago, both fresh in our positions, and built an enduring trust in each other and culture we believe in at our school.  I've learned so much about leadership and ethics and personhood from him.  It's hard to imagine making decisions without his wise counsel.  

It was inevitable that he, or I, would move on to another professional challenge someday.  Sometimes big change rolls around when changes were already afoot and on the horizon, when the fog of overwhelm is visible just over the peninsula. Sometimes we have options; sometimes waves are bound to wash overhead and it's left to dive under or be knocked down. 

I've got some thinking to do.