The Departure

Friday was a day filled with hugs and explanations of my new job ("Lutherans Concerned/North America educates and advocates for the full inclusion of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities in the Lutheran Church, it's ecumenical partners, and global missions"). I greeted former teachers, who had become mentors and friends. I visited with students who I have had the opportunity to be a mentor to. I chatted with colleagues who have walked along this journey of employment with me. I told people that after work I was going to happy hour at Tracey's, just across the freeway. They were welcome to join me.

Just before I was to leave, I got an email that a final charge that I had made with my procurement card had been declined. Apparently, I had underestimated the amount. Unfortunately, I had already turned in my p-card, so there was little I could do. I'm sure they will be able to handle it on their own.

Finally, it was 4:30. I gave my laptop computer to one of my bosses. I hugged a co-worker. She looked at me and said, "You will go to the door. Pause. Turn around. Look around. Smile. And keep walking." I smiled at her and walked out the door.

I didn't stop at the door. I walked all the way down the hall. I stepped out of the Science Building and into the Quad. I kept walking, carrying my framed art under my arm. I looked at all the buildings as I passed by.

Richard had dropped me off, so I had to walk to Tracey's. I didn't realize that I would have a piece of art to carry, so I felt a little awkward. I walked down the sidewalk, to the pedestrian bridge that crossed the freeway. I walked up the ramp. At the top, I finally paused. I turned around and surveyed the campus that I knew so well.

I recalled first arriving on that campus as a junior transfer student in 1998. My parents drove me there in a motor home (no one else had that!). I recalled graduating from that campus in 2000. I recalled coming back to the campus several times to visit friends. I recalled getting a job at the Youth & Family Institute after getting kicked out of Youth Encounter. I recalled being told that I was not really an employee. I recall coming back 9 months later as a legal employee. This was a campus that held so many joyful and painful memories. It was a part of me. It is a part of me.

I took a deep breath and turned around. I began to walk over the pedestrian bridge. Traffic was heavy, and the sounds of cars rushing under my feet filled my ears. The noise of the traffic felt like crossing the Red Sea...like baptism. I realized that I was crossing away from a job...a life of my past and into a new future. And exciting future. A future I am called to live into.