The Move

We're leaving.

Moving to Vancouver.

I was offered and accepted a job at a local high school. The house goes on the market June 19.

It is still so fresh, overwhelming and fantastic it almost seems surreal.

I have lived in L.A. all my life and in just eight weeks it will be just another part of my past. A new reality is located just 1,100 miles away. That's about 14 degrees north lattitude of where I am now.

Everything will be different. Smells, sights, landmarks, the schools, demographics, all new.

I broke the news thursday morning and it seems to have spread like wildfire. The last two days have been very emotionally draining and meaningful. My students, past and present have just been killing me. I was not prepared for some of their responses. Though some I'm sure are glad to see me go, I am overwhelmed by the steady flow of people coming to see me to say how much they'll miss me, some have cried, I have done my best to hold back. I have writer's cramp from signing countless yearbooks. This morning, I got to my class and found a banner draped over my door that read 'We Will Miss Mr. Marano'.

I am so humbled and unworthy of what appears to be genuine regret at my leaving. I don't know what to do with myself.

And in the midst of the mourning that I'm experiencing leaving so many good kids and friends that double as colleagues, I know I'm doing the right thing. It feels right, it happened under the right conditions, God's.

We had been agonozing about the Insanity Plan and I could not sleep. Sunday night Lori-Ann and I had a huge talk about this and we both walked away torn. I just could not leave without a job. It was too irresponsible to me, I have a family to think about. A year ago I prayed and continued to pray that if God was on board with this I would get a job. Lori-Ann could not get passed how much we wanted to leave and could not understand why God had placed this uncertainty in our hearts. She prayed that night that God would either lift this burden from us by taking away our desire to leave or that He would provide a job by friday.

Monday morning I got a message from a prinicpal at Heritage High. This was the 3rd occassion he had tried to get in touch with but kept getting sent to the wrong voicemail.

We talked. He asked if I could interview over the phone the next day. Sure, I said.

Tuesday, I get the call and the interview lasts about 40 minutes. The conference call was an interview with him and three other teachers on staff. At the end of the call he says they have the field narrowed down to four people, of which I am one. They would make a decision in the next week and he would call in a few days and let me know what is going on. I say okay and hang up.

About five minutes later, the phone rings. It's the principal and he says " I was going to try to wait a day, but the other teachers said if I did not hire you immediately, they would kill me."

Needless to say, I accepted.

We're hoping to be gone by the end of July. Please pray for smooth transitions for our family and safety as I drive a 14 foot U-Haul over 1,000 miles.

Thanks Scott for all yoour help and prayers and to everyone else who has been praying our family throught this.

And, Tim, thanks for call. It helped.

Peace to all.