So long, farewell, auf weidersehen, adieu

I’m not going anywhere.

All around me, colleagues are leaving. Some going to Seattle. Others returning to Oregon . Some staying in the Inland Northwest but getting out of journalism altogether.

My friend Leslie Kelly , whom I have know for 19 years and who has sat in the desk behind mine since 1996, is heading back east to take a job at a newspaper twice the size of The Spokesman-Review. That’s good for her but hard for me.

As a Navy brat, I got accustomed at an early age to saying goodbye. In successive moves from San Diego to Corpus Christi (Texas) to San Diego to Walnut Creek (Calif.) to Wahiawa (Hawaii) to Newport (R.I.) to Ewa Beach (Hawaii) to Virginia Beach (Va.) to Rialto (Calif.), I ended up attending 11 different schools. As I’ve told anyone who would listen, my childhood was kids crying in the back seat.

Even so, saying goodbye is never easy. Sure, in this day of low long-distance rates and e-mail Instant Messaging, a couple of thousand miles isn’t as far as it once was. But neither does it allow me to turn around and crack wise to someone who understands my acerbic sense of humor.

The name of this column is Movies & More. Despite the film reference in the above headline, this particular post is not about movies. It’s not about books. It’s about saying goodbye to a friend. About wishing her all the luck that this often-unfair world has to offer. Leslie deserves it not just for being a good friend but for being a good person.

I will miss her.