Calm After the Storm

It's Friday night and I'm sitting in my bed as I write this.  I am flooded with relief, uplifted and exhausted after a miraculous retirement party.

Me making a speech after I cried all of the makeup off my eyes

There were peonies and Gerber daisies and banners and pictures and postcards.  Food and wine and beer (Stella Artois only), Prosecco (one of my favorite drinks), colleagues past and present, friends, children, husband, bosses, students from the old days, speeches, song, hugs, smiles, tears, apples (I have a collection of them) and a hole lot of loving.

I didn't know.  I didn't know that I had been appreciated to that extent.  What a lovely, humbling gift.

Amongst the highlights were: two of my students performed songs from a musical we put up in 1985, my former boss (a pretty hard-nosed guy) made a toast that blew me away.  My sons and step-daughter spoke and cried, as did my wonderful husband: "I am lucky that you love me".  A vertically challenged former colleague confessed that he had fallen for me, hard because: "... she was pretty, intelligent, talented... and short". Laughs... hugging, more hugging, lots of crazy energy, a lot, a lot of beauty. Too much beauty kept me awake most of the night.

Today, I finished reading the greeting cards and hung my piece of art.  I am quietly, calmly contented. I am full to brimming with a feeling of belonging and of acceptance.

That's all on top of imminent retirement.

I don't think it gets better than this.

Over-the-moon Stella