The Room to Write

You have probably heard the term or witnessed “The Irish Goodbye” in action. People often associate that style of departure as a sudden disappearance of a person without a word. Just poof! Well, that’s not my form of The Irish Goodbye. I follow in my parents’ tradition of circling the room to say goodbye to, and chatting with, each person one by one. We kids would plead, “When are we leaving?!” Our parents would stall by responding, “Get the coats.” We kids knew that meant we were at least one solid hour away from actually putting the coats on and walking out the door. Over the past nine years, I’m pleased to say there are too many people in “the room” to say goodbye to each of you individually. We have such a wonderful group of writers and readers and creative minds in this region—that I’m sure I will be bumping into each of you for one reason or another in the weeks, months and years to come. We know each other now. The Room to Write acted as a gracious host and brought us all togeth...