Just four short days after the gala consecration service at Calvary, a moving van came to O'Hara Township and loaded all our furniture and headed west to Columbus. That is when it really sank in that retirement had actually begun. The proof is in the fact that my e-mail volume has decreased markedly.
We drove out of Pittsburgh that night with mixed feelings.
It will be good to be back in our permanent home again and among friends of long standing, however, we are leaving behind so many new, good friends and we will miss you all.
No words can fully express the appreciation Mariann and I have for our time these past three years among the good people of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Your warmth, your friendliness and your general acceptance of us was overwhelming. The home you provided for us gave us a great opportunity to do what we have always done, entertain folks in an informal setting.
The myriad of parish functions which we were privileged to attend will long remain in our memory banks.
And finally the farewell gatherings and your many gifts to us upon leaving made us feel very much loved. For all of this, we wish to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.
Although it was hard to say goodbye, this was tempered by the knowledge that you are now blessed to be in the hands of a gifted permanent bishop whom I came to have great respect for in our two months of working together.
Mariann and I have assured both +Dorsey and Betsy that they have come among some the finest people in the Episcopal Church and we believe you will find much to be thankful for in what they will bring to you. I have every confidence that together you will continue the return to normalcy and once again become the strong diocese that God has called you to be.
In closing I wish to send my love and encouragement to all those who continue to labor in leadership positions in the diocese and to thank you for the opportunity I have had to work closely with you these past three years. Your unselfish dedication is what is making it all work. I shall miss you all.
But there is one bright spot. I have discovered that even in retirement, there are meetings to attend, so I am still a happy camper.
May God bless and keep you all.
The Right Rev. Kenneth L. Price, Jr.