5.18.11

I've posted a lot about why I love my career. 


As opportunities have come and gone over the years, the phrase that is always present to me is "Ninety-nine percent of loving your job is the people you work with."


Today we celebrated our sole retiree this year. During her reminiscing at our faculty meeting, she said that she's tired of worrying about test scores, tired of grading papers, tired of the kids and their, well, BS, and tired of the routine.


But what she will miss the most is the friendships. As she put it, she started teaching with a lot of the women she is close to--"best friends forever" close to--who aren't too far behind her in retirement. These are the women with whom she raised her kids, married off her kids, got divorced, buried her parents, and welcomed her grandchildren. They were the ones you knew would be there every morning to make you laugh, give you a tissue, get you drunk, offer words, make whatever "it" was, better. 


I teared up not only because she was a blubbering mess and I'm a sympathy cryer, but because those friendships ring true for me. I could not imagine my job without the people I work with. I couldn't imagine doing what I do without the built in support system of people who make you casseroles and cheesecakes when you have babies or birthdays, who cover your class on their only plan bell because your sitter called and your kid is sick, who help you plan your wedding, who stand with you in the morning drinking coffee and sharing stories and giving advice...who have evolved from "co-worker" to "best friend forever." (Complete with the little half-heart necklaces you can get at Claire's for $5).


They are the heart and soul of my day. They are why teachers last 35 years and longer. 


I hope that you, dear blog reader, work with people you love as much as teachers seem to love one another.