Today (Tuesday) was graduation day for the fifth graders. It was also my last day at the school where I've volunteered in the art classes for the past seven years. On Friday I'll be introduced to the seniors at Hannan House, the Senior Learning Center where I intend to work on a new photographic essay. Endings and beginnings. Both good and necessary, and each with its particular challenges. Today it was feelings of sadness that washed over me as I looked at these children I've loved so dearly. But it's time to move on; I know that's true. It's still hard.

When Susan Briggs, the art teacher with whom I've worked all these years, announced my retirement from the stage, I could hear something like a collective groan from the fourth graders in the balcony. She then held up a plaque she'd created using a shingle from the school's roof. On it she'd printed, "2001-2008, Miss Patricia, Maples Elementary School." There was also a small book full of signatures and notes from the students with whom I've worked every Thursday this year. CLICK HERE to see a photo of Susan and me that was taken by the physical education teacher, Kathy Barker, immediately after graduation. In it I'm holding up the plaque.