Life is a page-turner..Next Chapter!

I have not added to this blog in years—literally. No exaggeration. I feel compelled to start writing again because I am leaving a job where my need to write was fulfilled. I had the pleasure of being a pen pal of sorts to several thousand people.  After Monday, that ends.

While I am at peace with my decision, I am feeling extra emotional today.  I feel so much love for the people of Lake Monticello.  It’s a crazy, “Hallmark card, cue the Lifetime Movie” kind of love. Why all this rush of affection?  I am in the last couple days of my position as Lake Monticello Owners’ Association (LMOA) Communications Director—a role I have had for more than four years.

 

Four years.  The time it takes most students to earn a Bachelor’s Degree.  Just like a new college graduate, I am experiencing a mix of bittersweet feelings—an intense sense of accomplishment, sad to leave the people and the fun parts, while feeling both nervous and excited about the future.

I am also feeling overwhelmed by the love I am receiving in emails, cards, visits, calls and hugs.  It’s like being eulogized while I am still alive to hear the kind words…kind of a mixed blessing.  It’s lovely to hear what I have meant to many of my “neighbors” at Lake Monticello, but it makes me hope I have made the right decision to move on to—as one sweet neighbor called it—my “next chapter.”

 

One email really got to me today.  The writer apologized to me, writing:

“I rely so much on your updates. Am very sad to hear of your departure. Thank you for being so thorough and thoughtful. My apologies for taking you for granted in the regard that I thought we could keep you forever!!  THANK YOU for all you do for our community!  You are awesome!  (I hope your replacement has a tenth of your style and love for us).”

I couldn’t help it.  I went all peri-menopausal and felt tears fill my eyes—happy tears, I assured her in my response.

 

Do we ever really know when it’s time to start the “next chapter” of our lives?  I know I will look fondly on my time as the Lake’s Communicator and look eagerly forward as the rest of my story unfolds.  Whatever my tale,  I will enjoy the telling…I am hoping for a page-turner!

The LMOA Maintenance Team wished me well at a farewell gathering.

But, Wait, There’s More…While there are many who have expressed their sadness or disappointment in my departure from LMOA, there are still others who rejoice.  I am good with that too.  I love that expression,  “well-behaved women seldom make history.” The passing years have brought a calm assurance about who I am. I live large—big smiles, big laughs, big hugs.  I have been told by friends (with affection, I hope), that I can be aggressively friendly—like a puppy that won’t stop trying to make friends with you.  Knowing myself, I can appreciate that I am not everyone’s cup of tea.   

Who I am is part of my story…next chapter, here I come!