At the end of the school year, the Vashon Education Association (VEA) throws a lovely retirement party for all the departing teachers and staff. And every year, they go to great efforts to extend invitations to former staff.

I was the president of the VEA for nearly two years. I heard nothing. I was not invited.

I am profoundly disappointed as I sit here in a local coffee shop on a Wednesday afternoon and read of a friend's retirement in the Beachcomber.

I am so, so saddened that I was left out of celebrating my friend's career in the company of the hundred or so people I enjoyed working for and with for seven years. Apparently I was that forgettable.