As of 5 pm yesterday the office I occupied as Associate Dean of Libraries at Central Michigan University for nearly four years is vacant, at least temporarily! The office was pretty much cleared out when I snapped this photo on my last morning on the job.
I had given notice six months ago, so there was no surprise, but as my departure drew nearer, it got increasingly tougher -- they were great people I worked with there, and I knew I'd really miss 'em!
Fortunately for CMU, the three candidates for my replacement were all interviewed before my departure (I happen to know all three) and a quick hire is certainly in the offing.
The reception was terrific. The last of the three candidates for my position was actually interviewing, necessitating some librarians and staff to be away. But friends and colleagues, including Nancy Robertson, the State Librarian of Michigan and Margaret Auer, Dean of Libraries at the University of Detroit, Mercy as well as several good friends from Ferris State University joined my CMU "family" to say goodbye.
Tom Moore, CMU Dean of Libraries both praised and roasted (not too badly), calling to mind accomplishments as well as comic portrayals -- like Mr. Metric (due to my spearheading the development of dashboards and metric displays by our department heads), Mr. Muscles (reminding the group that I had completed my 64,000th situp for 2013 prior to coming to work on my last day at CMU), or Mr. Genealogy
(with renditions of a family album that superimposed my head on the shoulders of Napoleon, ZZ Top (!), George Washington, William Shakespeare, and Queen Elizabeth I, among others).
Margaret Auer then took the podium and recalled incidents of our working together in the Michigan Academic Library Council (MALC) and the Michigan Library Association.
Then it was my turn to very briefly address the group. It's a good thing, because I was really at a loss of words for all the good feeling that was in the room. But I rallied, and read a poem composed for the occasion.
A Villanelle on Departing
May 13, 2013
The curtain falls, the
play is done.
The story’s at an end, and yet
The earth revolves around the sun.
The story’s at an end, and yet
The earth revolves around the sun.
A little like a
Broadway run,
The obligations have been met.
The curtain falls, the play is done.
The obligations have been met.
The curtain falls, the play is done.
But whether critics’
praise is won,
The fiery globe must finally set.
The earth revolves around the sun.
Played out toward oblivion,
With measured sorrow and regret,
The curtain falls, the play is done.
For you, for me, for everyone
A simple fact that we all get:
The earth revolves around the sun.
So as I leave and jettison
This role I’ve loved and can’t forget.
The curtain falls, the play is done.
The earth revolves around the sun.
The fiery globe must finally set.
The earth revolves around the sun.
Played out toward oblivion,
With measured sorrow and regret,
The curtain falls, the play is done.
For you, for me, for everyone
A simple fact that we all get:
The earth revolves around the sun.
So as I leave and jettison
This role I’ve loved and can’t forget.
The curtain falls, the play is done.
The earth revolves around the sun.
After the reception I headed back to the office to pack up my remaining things and returned home. In the evening Jen and I spent a great birthday dinner out with our friends, Bob and Beth Krueger. So ends a large chapter of my life. What lies ahead?
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