We were there today for John Friend's final class before he takes "the next few months" off for reasons you already know. During the opening of the session, in a very brief display of emotion, he vaguely addressed his current situation and the fact that this would be the last class he'd be teaching for a while.
And that's basically it. He was overall positive and upbeat without seeming obnoxious or egotistical. It was a solid workshop. He did a pretty brilliant job of tying in the upcoming Mahashivaratri into his current situation, while still being vague and not giving any specific details other than he was going to "go into the dark" for a while before he comes back out into the light.