School starts...but there is loss

I love to teach, and I love what I teach - English. You can teach a lot of subjects hidden within the "literature" aspect - manners, respect, responsibility, consequences, choices, etc.
But this year is very different. I'm used to being the one who leaves, who starts new adventures and doesn't look back at the wake I've created. I know that leaving hurts, but being left behind hurts more. Now I know that more than ever.
I'm, by all means, so pleased that my still friends but former colleagues have some adventures in their lives to pursue....so forgive me my pity party for one. It's lonely here. I'm trying not to dwell on it, but as I sit in my brand-new classroom...I am alone.
I chose this classroom because not only would it be brand-new and clean and sparkly and bigger, but it would also not be next door to someone who is no longer here. Ed has become a principal, and we still have weekly calls, but it's not the same as being able to dish on the latest reality shows during passing periods and on McCain's VP choice during lunch. Chelsea is much farther away, and I'm so proud of her and angry at her at the same time. How dare she leave me! Then I'm selfish and she's being extremely unselfish - doing her missionary work across the globe. I just miss them very much and will it to be back how it was. I think the replacements are great, but it is a hard adjustment, to say the least.
Two years better go by quickly and then we'll be back to normal, right? 23 months and counting...