September 30 -- I just got off of the phone with my friend Christina, one of my Fab 5 girlfriends. We are getting together tomorrow night because Cindy is in town and we wanted to make an effort to see each other. It's also in the middle of the trial and we are so happy that we can (hopefully) have an evening of distraction for poor Hanna who is shouldering much of the horrific trauma her brother and family is enduring. So I am talking to Christina and she goes, "ummm, I got into an accident tonight -- my car is totalled." (Thank God she wasn't hurt!) And then she tells me about her ex-husband's dad (whom I know) who was diagnosed with cancer this summer and was just told he has 4 to 6 weeks left to live. And today I heard several other really sad stories from other friends. Cancer, kids going through difficult times, parents going through difficult times (and I mean difficult!) and the list goes on.
Christina finally said to me, "hey, tomorrow it's up to you to come up with happy stories! Tell us all about teaching!" Ughh. The pressure!! :)
So now I am thinking about my last five weeks. Are there happy stories? By the grace of God, I think there are a few. Funny how gratitude makes one's world a bit brighter. Today, I was sitting at my desk during my plan period which was early in the morning. The sun was just coming up over the building and was softly lighting up my desk. I was working on my professional and student goals for an upcoming evaluation. And I thought to myself, wow...I really, really like this! I just feel, I don't know how to describe it -- I feel like I am actually using my mind, my skills, to help others. There was a kid in one of my classes today who was being defiant -- he wouldn't do what I asked him to do. He is a sophomore in my freshman class because he flunked English last year. Needless to say, when he sits in my class, he is nearly always in a state of passive aggressive "I could care less" mode. So today, I don't know why but instead of kicking him out, I somehow, somehow, got him to work. I calmly went over to him, handed him a pen, asked him to write a sentence, told him how writing helps the brain develop even more than just saying a sentence aloud and then I looked right at him in front of everyone and said, "I care about you. I want you to make your brain stronger." He wrote the sentence. And read it out loud. And when he left, I gave him the pen.
After class, a teacher's aide who was in the classroom (who helps a special needs student in the class) came up to me and said, "you have taught before, haven't you?" I told her I taught for three years, 15 years ago. She nodded. "Yeah. I thought so," she said and then she left. I don't know why, but that made me feel like I was on top of the world. There are certainly so many sad stories. So for now, for today, I will hold that memory close to my heart. Because as my wise friend Christina said, "we all need happy stories to hang on to."
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