A Time to Say Goodbye

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

—Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

I feel like I should provide some official closure for this, my project of 15 years. After this long, I feel like some sort of formality is due, rather than just leaving things hanging in perpetuity.

I started this blog when I was 23 years old, having just graduated from college (yes, it took me 5 years to graduate with a double major and a semester abroad). I'm ending it as an almost 39-year-old married mother of two. Complete with a PhD, a career in academia and a mortgage. 

It's been a long journey. There's a part of me that doesn't want to end this, but there's a part of me that also knows when it's time to say goodbye. It's not cutting my losses so much as it is knowing that this blog has fulfilled its purpose for a particular time during a particular season of my life. 

Right now, I'm at the kitchen table, trying to overcome a sense of inertia to prepare syllabi to be ready to get back to the grind next month after (a second) maternity leave. That's a far cry from, I don't know, analyzing why I broke up with my first boyfriend. 

I know I'm the same person I was back then. But I also know that I'm not. 

I'm not going to erase this blog. It will remain in the ether. An artifact. An account of my existence that I'll return to from time to time. Will my grandchildren care? Grandma was so weird, oh my God. Will English even be their predominant language? 

What an old person thing to do. To care about what your nonexistent grandchildren would think about you.

I will leave you with a snapshot of me surrounded by what matters most to me at this point in my life. Thank you for joining me on this journey.