Homecoming

This past weekend Rachel, Meredith, and I went to Freed-Hardeman's homecoming. Rachel and Meredith saw quite a few people they knew, but none of my former classmates were there. If they were, we failed to see (or recognize) eachother--it has been 35 years! It's difficult to believe that so much time has passed. I remember fondly the school, the people, and the good times we shared.
Rachel's friend Kelda, a former classmate, hosted a breakfast at her home in Henderson on Saturday morning where Rachel, Kelda, and three other classmates were able to renew their friendship--and enjoy the delicious breakfast that Kelda had prepared for us. The girls met up later in the day for their five-year reunion luncheon where they saw other of their classmates. I enjoyed listening to them as they reminisced together.
Meredith stayed in the dorm so she could be with her friends as much as possible. . . . literally, as much as possible. They stayed up until 4:30 on Friday night (Saturday morning), but went to bed earlier (3:30 a.m.) the next. Talk about burning your candle at both ends! Had I stayed up that late two nights in a row, I'm afraid my candle (wick and wax) would be totally extinguished. Rachel and I met up with Meredith periodically over the weekend-- she and some of her friends met us for meals a couple of times.
The best part of the trip for me was my being able to spend time with my girls. Now that Rachel is married and living in Alabama, there never seems to be enough time to do what we want, or for me, to say everything that I'd like to say. Even though Meredith is currently living at home, events like this give us "together" time and new shared experiences. It's also fun to tell eachother about our individual experiences at FHU. I'm so thankful that I'm able to spend times like this with the girls.

This is why.....

A special needs student has been coming to the library for the past several weeks guided by her teacher who tells her each time to bring her books to the checkout desk to check them in and then again to check out one or two more. Although I thank her each time for bringing me her books, and even though her teacher has instructed her each time to say something specifically appropriate such as "Thank you," she doesn't appear to respond to anything that I say to her. After she had visited the library a couple of times, I asked her teacher something about her disabilities in the hope that I might help her in some way and was told that her disabilities include visual, social skill, and communication problems. He also told me that she loves books, so I asked about her interests in the hope that I could help her find something she would enjoy.

When she has arrived in the library each week, I have had a specific book ready for her on a variety of topics--dogs, planets, rabbits, etc. Each time, she takes the book, and holds it tightly to her chest. Her teacher instructs her to thank me, and sometimes, if I listen very carefully, I may hear a slight sound that I assume is her thanks.

Today when this young girl returned to the library to exchange her last week's selections for something new, I showed her my most recent choice for her, a book about hamsters. I also went on to tell her about Joe Dirt, the hamster that our son, Joey, rescued from abuse and then brought home to live with us. As she stood next to me, her instructed "thanks" was, again, barely audible, but when I looked at her, I saw that she was moving her lips as though she was blowing me two kisses and then repeated the action. As I kissed her on the cheek, I was so moved by her own personal expression of thanks.

Although I don't recall the exact moment that I decided to become a teacher, I do know that my decision was made sometime between my sophomore and junior years of college. I also believe that certain of my own teachers influenced that decision. In the course of the past 30 years, I have found that teaching is seldom easy, is often frustrating, but is also very rewarding. On a few, rare occasions, I have even wondered if I had made the right choice. Today, however, I have no doubts about my decision to become an educator--I know it was absolutely the right decision!