The longest goodbye

The past two weeks have gone quicker than I imagined. I've been able to spend time with Mom on her birthday and many friends inside and outside the church. In between there has been preparing, organizing, reading required and suggested books, and whole bunches of "goodbye for now".

My mom asked me if there was anything that I needed for my dorm room. Knowing that she has a limited income on Social Security, but wanting to give her an opportunity to show her love and support, I asked if she would paint something. She is quite a good abstract painter.

She decided on a Madonna and Child. When the work was finished she asked me to come down to OC and see if I liked the painting. It is amazing. There are blues, reds, purple, and orange and golds around the Christ Child's head. It is one dimentional and somewhat abstract and, the best part, it is from my mother.

She doesn't remember where she found the photo that inspired her to "write the icon" but the bottome reads "SEDES SAPIENTIAE-ORA PRO NOBIS". Translated, this means THRONE OF WISDOM-PRAY FOR US and refers to Mary as the seat of wisdom and bearer of Christ. This particular image has been associated for centuries with Christian learning and is found in places of higher learning throughout the world. Nothing is by accident.

Francisco helped choose fitting matting and a gold frame that was 50% off. The clerk at Aaron Brothers was so helpful and even helped us cut the matting to size. The end result would not look out of place in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

One of the first things to be done upon arriving at Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) was to set up a small pres dieux and place the beautiful icon on the wall above. Now I can go to bed and deal with the rest of unpacking and setting up the printer tomorrow.

Sleep with the angels

Finishing and beginning

In about a week and a half I'll be saying goodbye to my work family at Essex Property Trust. It has been over six years of learning and growing, self discovery and, thanks to my boss, a maturing professionalism.

There are many people I hope to remain in contact with and will miss not seeing frequently. The commute to work and, even worse, the commute back home will not be missed. What will be missed most of all is the feeling of accomplishment after a successful training class, webinar or one on one experience, and the interaction between facilitator and our team members. "Rewarding" is too simple a word to express how much this experience has meant to me.

Now, as my last day, Friday the 13th, approaches I'm also excited about beginning a new chapter in Berkeley, CA. I'll be attending the Church Divinity School of the Pacific and work towards a Masters of Divinity. There has been some talk of investigating a potential second Masters degree in Litugy. I don't have to decide now but it is on my radar.

So I'm both happy and sad. I'm happy to have had six very full years doing what I love to do with a great company, the amazing MarCom team, and the wonderful RPM's and RPM Assistants; happy to be able to attend the Espiscopal's Seminary of the West Coast and pursue my childhood dream of becoming a Priest. It is sad to leave friends and family. It is hard to imagine not worshiping at with my Parish family at St. Thomas the Apostle each and every Sunday. It is difficult to imagine that I'll ever find so caring and warm a group of people.

With mixed emotions and hope in God's good plans for my life I set out on the King's Highway and look forward to being exactly where I am supposed to be and fulfilling my purpose.