I have 2 days left before I retire from 36 years as a classroom teacher. I can't wait and I am glad to be done. I have never been one to think of it as some holy "calling" or anything else like that. I won't romanticize it. I was good at what I did, but it didn't define me. Teaching was what I did. It was not who I was. I am more than that. Friday I will clean out my desk, turn in my keys, toss out my teacher clothing and close that chapter on my life.