Saying "Happy Trails" to Leo

A couple of years before I left Ivy Tech Leo came to occupy the office next to mine, teach Science at the Logansport campus, and become a very popular and well-qualified professor plus an asset to the college in many ways.

As he was acclimating to the campus life, he spent so much time in my office, or I in his, just helping him become comfortable, asking and answering many questions, listening to and offering many suggestions, and just becoming friends.

Leo was from Seattle, had gone to Marquette on a scholarship for his undergrad, and completed his PhD at Purdue.  He left a research position to teach at the Logansport campus.  He was younger than Megan yet older than Hilary so we joked often that he was my 'middle child' and I was his '3rd mother' since his own was not much of a prescence in his life and another woman in Seattle who was a family friend occupied the second spot.

As the years progressed at Ivy, he moved through the reclassification process, took over the PTK leadership, even at the state and national level, and became a presence on the campus and in the college.

When I left, he told me he felt an emptiness since I wasn't there for his sounding board, that the office next door had changed, that he missed my advice and expertise, and most of all he missed my friendship.

Then the week before Thanksgiving, I sent him a text about my making apple crisp, which was a favorite with the students at our campus for our Wednesday fund-raising lunches.  PTK used to make lunch on selected Wednesdays for the students which really became quite popular.  Favorite items were sloppy joes (Jan's recipe), vegetable soup (not sure where that recipe came from), and apple crisp.  That was always fun, and it was also music to my ears when students would stop by and thank me for making something that they really enjoyed (like the big pans of apple crisp that I continued to make even after I gave up the PTK advisorship).

During that texting, Leo told me they were packing up the house, getting ready for the move.  A quick to follow phone call revealed that Mike had taken a job in Seattle (long story about his exit from the employment at Rolls Royce) and Leo had just given his notice to the college that he would be leaving at the end of the semester.

Going to Seattle was not a surprise since it is Leo's home town.  Moving without a job lined up would scare me a bit, but his father has offered the above-the-garage apartment to them, rent-free, and they do have friends there to live with as well.  Plus he already has a possibility of a position at another community college which he has discovered through his connections with PTK.  He will be fine.

Gary and I met him for a late breakfast at Bob Evans in Kokomo yesterday, a breakfast which lasted for three hours.  Yikes!  But it was good to talk, to catch up, and to bid him farewell for a while.  During our conversation, I realized several things.

First, we always need to make time to keep the connections strong.  Leo and I were very good friends, talked all the time, but when I left the college, after a couple of lunch meetings, we seemed to drift apart.  While it wasn't intentional, it still happened.  Gary's folks died, I was helping him with harvest, my mom died, we had to clean out the house, we were babysitting a lot, I was teaching at Trine, we moved...he was busy with classes and overloads and PTK and many committees and additional responsibilities at the college...and time slips away.

Second, life is a series of changes.  When I went to the college, I liked what we were doing and our student clientele.  Our mission was a good one and we tried to make it work so students could receive degrees and continue to hold a job and raise a family.  Now it seems like the student needs are falling to the bottom of the concerns and the focus is not where it should be.    He was also frustrated that a few faculty are engaged and others are quietly existing, sitting back with no extra responsibilities while others are over-extended.  Unfortunately that seems to be the norm for most groups, in schools, in colleges, in workplaces, in churches, in clubs and organizations.  It just happens.  So the life at Ivy Tech that I knew and really enjoyed when I first started, and even when we first moved to the new building, has changed, and not for the better, it seems.  When that happens, it is time to move on.

Third, friendship is something to be treasured.  Much as I dislike technology sometimes, it is easy to keep in touch with texts and emails, even when distance is a factor.  One just has to work at it.

I will miss Leo.  But as we talked about yesterday, now that he will be in Seattle, that gives us one more reason to travel west and visit.

And we will.

Happy Trails, Leo!  Safe travels today as you fly home and start a new phase in your life.   I'll miss you!