from brother luke

on Saturday night we had our year end celebration for the teachers of CIS.  there are 14 of us who are leaving this year and the social committee and other staff members made presentations to those of us who are leaving.  each departing staff member had a little speech written about them by one of their friends or teaching partners.  i was lucky to have my speech written by my teaching partner/friend/brother LUKE!  (luke and i share the same last name...so he's obviously my brother!!)  anyway, although luke couldn't be there, he had kelly read my speech to me, and it was so lovely that i wanted to share it with you. 

dearest sister emily,

i am so happy to have shared our first year of teaching grade 5 together.  you just may have been the perfect teaching partner.  with your thoughtfulness toward our students as well as our colleagues, your ability to keep track of all the craziness we encountered throughout the year and to deal with it, and your ability to keep a sense of humour through it all made my year not tolerable, but enjoyable.  when things got overwhelming, you were like my rock, always willing to help out and always eager to share ideas and work together.  but possibly the best part of working with you, was your easy going nature.  everything was just...easy.  you were so flexible and willing to adapt to whatever situation was thrown at us.  you were so forgiving and patient if i forgot about something or screwed something up.  it was a pleasure and an honor to work with you.  

it's difficult to say in words how much i appreciate you, so i think i will express my thoughts through an acrostic poem.

E - E is for emancipation proclamation, because you set your students' minds FREEEEE!

M - M is for macaroni, because it's really, really good, and so are you.

I - I is for "i can't believe we only did ONE karaoke night together!"  But it was the best karaoke night ever.

L - L is for loveable. isn't emily just so darn loveable???

Y - Y is for yellowstone national park.  the home of "old faithful"..  emily is not old, but like old faithful, she can be relied upon.

A - A is for awesome!

B - B is for boat.  if our cruise ship went down, i would want to be in emily's life boat.

B - B is for beer, because it's really, really good, and so are you. 

O - O is for oxygen, because you're like a breath of fresh air.

T - T is for terrible, as in, it's terrible that you're leaving us.

T - T is for terrific, as in, although i'll miss you, it's terrific that you are off an another adventure in another amazing new land.

i'll miss you sis.

love luke

I KNOW RIGHT!  i cried like a baby (as i'm sure my mom is after reading this).  i feel blessed to have worked with you brother luke.  thank you.  thank you.  thank you.