A Short Goodbye Note

I wanted to take a few minutes this morning to say goodbye to all of you. I've taken a new job and will be leaving the Hampton Roads Naval Museum next Friday, March 22. I thought writing a short blog post would be cathartic for me--because I'm really going to miss this place and all of you--and I hope you'll forgive me for this indulgence!

I'll miss my co-workers and the friends I've made while working at the Naval Museum the most. I can't imagine life without Sebastian the Shark (shown in the photo below)...just kidding, of course. In all seriousness, I've never worked with a better group of people--both those who actually work in the museum and those who visit us everyday. It's been a great ride.

After our Halloween puppet show, 2011

I've learned a lot in my time here. When I started at the Naval Museum, my knowledge of naval history was pretty much non-existent, and while I'm nowhere near an authority, I've learned quite a bit. I've spent my time doing education programs for students, puppeteering (who knew that was going to happen? I sure didn't--but what fun!), giving talks about naval history and the Battle of Midway to naval commands, and planning the Naval Museum's wide variety of special events. One event that really stands out to me (and that all of you have heard about a million times) is Lego Shipbuilding, pretty much the best event ever. I know I won't be working here next February for this program, but I still intend to come and enjoy it!

One of the participants builds a ship at Lego Shipbuilding 2013

I could babble on for hours about this place and what it has meant to me during the last 2.5 years, but I imagine that'll get too sappy for a public blog post. In the end, I just want to say thank you and that I'll miss you all very much!

-Laura