Time to say goodbye....

 Appropriately the song that Mr. P played to all of us on our last day of high school.
We played it again for him last night.

Last night I went to a retirement dinner for one of my favorite teachers from high school. He had NO idea that we had planned a surprise party for him, and he was so surprised...and he cried. Mr. Petersen is one of those teachers that inspires his students. Sometimes I don't think he understands exactly how much he has touched each and every one of us. We tried very hard to make that clear last night...and still he was telling us that it was US who inspired HIM. He is one of those rare gifts to teaching. Nordonia has lost one of their greatest teachers. He is so amazing.

 One of Mr. P's many speeches to us

Being able to see everyone last night and hearing all of the stories about Mr. P brought back so many memories. I wish last night could have lasted so much longer. Just seeing Mr. P get all emotional realizing how much of an impact he'd had is something I want to remember for the rest of my life. He deserves all of the praise he gets and then some. He changed my life, and I know he changed many others. The two classes I had with him in high school were HANDS DOWN two of my favorite classes.

Teachers like him come once in a lifetime. I feel blessed and honored to have had him as a teacher (along with many of the other teachers at Nordonia. I was so fortunate to have people like Mr. P, Mrs. Mitchell, Mr. King, and Mr. Davis...just to name a few).

Tonight was just a GOOD night overall. It was topped off by going to Steve's house to play rock band with Allie and Patrick, which was a ton of fun, even if I can't sing. It makes me sad that this is my last weekend of summer. These are the kind of weekends I love...no cares in the world, having fun...and making people happy. It's a very good feeling.