I sent the big good-bye letter to my colleagues, and the response has been overwhelming. I don't know why I thought no one would notice if I left. Maybe because I've been off-campus over a year. Maybe because 90% of my energy went toward my students; being with my colleagues was always a luxury.

Leaving my career (even if only temporarily as John reminds me) was a huge decision. At some point I'll post or publish the one-act where my 30 different points of view hashed it out with each other. (You should have heard what Ms. Women Who Stay at Home Have Betrayed the Feminist Movement had to say to Ms. You're a Bad Mother if You Work.) I know it's an individual decision, a family decision, but part of me cared a great deal what my colleagues thought.

Some said it's what they did, some said it's what they wished they could do, all showered me with good wishes. And, since I put in a plug for my new career as a freelance writer, editor, writing coach, and tutor, I got several job offers.

So far, the going has been very good. We'll see how I feel as I wade through twenty years of hand-outs in my office files.