Saying Goodbye
My administrator's last day was yesterday. She gave us a day notice that she would no longer be working with us. I was the last to find out as she was afraid to tell me. LOL! I still laugh thinking about how and why she could possibly be afraid to tell me. Aside from the fact that we didn't have 2 weeks to prepare anyone, including the individuals, I didn't take the news as a shock. I would never want to prevent anyone from progressing in their life in any way and the thing is...I. GET. IT.
I get that sometimes people make us offers that we cannot refuse. I get that we are all on an individual journey with individual soul contracts. However, the I/DD population does not always understand this as much. Don't get me wrong they are very much used to saying goodbye to friends and family. They've almost become so accustomed to it that it becomes sad to think about. Today's comments from individuals have varied. One individuals cannot help but keep asking me where our admin is saying her name and "Where is she?" over and over again. Another kept questioning who was going to take her place, upsetting others. Even still, others react more calmly and almost disconnected saying, "Well, we lost another one." (mind you that this admin has been here for 4 years)
This experience reminds me that we each respond and react to loss differently. Grief is a part of being human that does not discriminate on whether you are able-bodied or not. This type of loss is different for my students though. Our admin hasn't died, she can still come to visit us, but it will never be the same ever again. Her role in their lives has changed. It makes me sad to see them go through the loss of someone they cared deeply for. So for today we take a step back for a bit from our curriculum (though some cannot help but go back to it) to discuss loss and the many people we have lost in our individual lives. It is a very sad process for some and I almost find it akin to peeling a scab off an old wound.