Bittersweet Symphony

This summer has been a difficult one for me. In addition to the fact that I hate SRC, as mentioned in my previous post, I have been trying to forget that 5 of my primary TAB members have graduated and are leaving at the end of the summer. CB, current co-president of TAB, has been my assistant in a computer program that we run for younger kids since he was 13. Tonight was his last night doing that program, and I now have to face the fact that they're really leaving.

We have graduations every year, of course, and I miss all of the teens who have worked with me, but this year is especially hard. 4 of the 5 teens who are leaving this year have been working with me for 5 years. They were there when I started TAB, and have been an integral part of running it, serving as officers, creating programs, and providing guidance to the younger members. All of them have been summer employees, and two have been worked for me year-round since we opened the teen department in October 2005. Five years is an incredibly long time in the life of a teenager, and that they've spent so long with me and at the library - well, the way it makes me feel actually defies description. I've literally watched them grow up from goofy 13-year-olds to mature, responsible, intelligent 18-year-olds (who are, let's face it, still goofy). I look forward to seeing the adults they'll become, because they're all pretty amazing as young adults, and I can only imagine that they'll just keep improving as they grow older.

I'm proud of them all, but man am I going to miss them.