Bon voyage

Can you believe that I only have 4 days of work left and 11 days left in Victoria? The last 5 weeks have gone by sooo quickly. I know that I'll be leaving Victoria in 12 days, but it still seems a bit surreal.

Yesterday, the MS Society had a "bon voyage" celebration for me and it was such a blessing! Two of my co-workers decorated the room where the party was with a big banner that said "Bon Voyage, Sarah" and streamers. We ordered in lunch from the Noodle Box (southeast asian food), which is always good!

One of my co-workers created a scrapbook of the 4 1/2 years I've worked at the MS Society. There's pictures of all of the Society's fundraising events that I helped organize in 2006, as well as pictures of clients, volunteers, and staff that I've worked with over the years. And all of the staff wrote a note to me at the back of the book. It was so thoughtful of them and I was so touched when they gave it to me! They also gave me a card that all of the staff signed and a card that some of the clients and volunteers had signed.

The MS Society always gives a gift to staff when they leave and what they gave me is beautiful. It's a silver chain with a cross hanging on it. I don't think I could adequately explain how beautiful the cross is, but it really is! It's so artistically designed and it has a small diamond in the centre of the cross.

It was all such a blessing... definitely beyond what words can possibly describe. I know that I'm ready to move on, but it's still a bit sad to be leaving. When one of my co-workers who I'm not going to see again left the party, she gave me a huge hug and almost started to cry. I honestly never thought I'd made that much of an impact at work, so it was humbling to hear and read their thoughts on how I've touched their lives in the last 4 1/2 years. And they all want updates from Montreal on how I'm doing and how the church is growing, which is so cool!

This afternoon, some people from Trinity Christian Centre got together for another "bon voyage" party, with lots of yummy food. I must say that I feel very loved and blessed to have been a part of everything I'm a part of in Victoria. Even my chiropractor and my hairdresser want updates on how things are going in Montreal! I honestly don't think I have ever said goodbye to so many people at one time...

I went to U-Haul yesterday to buy some good moving boxes so I can start packing all of my stuff that I am going to ship to Montreal before I leave Victoria. I haven't actually started packing the boxes, but I should probably get on that pretty soon. I also need to finish work and wrap up some other loose ends for moving, so I'm sure the next 11 days will be really busy!