Tomorrow is the last day of this school year. I have anticipated, prayed for, and counted down the days that have led up to tomorrow, but now that it is here...I have to admit that I am a little reluctant. I look back to that day in August when I welcomed each of my new students and tried to ease theirs, as well as my own, fears about what was yet to come.
Looking over the past nine months, it is true...I worked harder this school year than I ever did in the past. For some reason, or another, convincing these 105 students that history was the most important thing in their life was more difficult than in the past!!! I had a feeling that I was going to have a rough time, and I have to admit that there were days that I had to dig deep for some good attitude, but as time went on...I grew to love these kids just as much, if not more, than all of my students in the past.
Tomorrow is going to be bitter sweet for me, as I'm sure it will be for many teachers across the miles. Yes, we love our summers. We will get to spend some much deserved time away from school and will be able to regroup and refresh, as well as attend some encouraging staff developments that will hopefully put a spark back into us. We will get to spend some valuable time with our spouses, children, grandchildren, parents and friends, and remember why we were chosen for this life (yes, I believe that we were chosen to become teachers...not the other way around!). Even though we love our summers, there will still be a hint of sadness in our hearts when we have to say goodbye to the students that have become everyday fixtures in our lives. Hopefully we have touched some, if not all, of their lives and made a positive impact that they will remember always...but most importantly, I hope that they will know that they have touched my life, and I will remember them for always as well as they make their way into the world.
Tomorrow is also the day that my dad retires from the work force. He has worked at Fort Concho Historical Landmark for 17 years, and before that he was a self-employed dairy-farmer. He celebrated his 66th birthday earlier this month, and that is the age that he had decided long ago would be his retirment age. So...tomorrow is the day.
I can't help but think about the plans that he and my mom, Sharon, had made about this day. My mom would be 62, if she had survived the cancer that ravaged her body, and she and my dad were both going to retire tomorrow. They were going to purchase a motor home and travel around the United States, visiting all the places that they had only dreamed of when they were younger and tied down to the dairyfarm. Such plans were never meant to reach fruition.
Life for my dad is going to be different, and dare I say...better. He is going to be able to travel to visit my brother & sister-in-law as often as he, or they, like, and he will be able to travel with me to enjoy my daughter's many activities during her last two years in high school. It is going to be an adjustment though, as he begins to spend his days without the day-in-day-out activities of the worplace, and has to rely on himself for daily interaction. He says that he is looking forward to whatever life has to offer, and he seems younger and more relaxed as each day has approached. He says that tomorrow is more of a beginning for him, rather than an ending. You gotta love the optimism.
So, as I wrap tonight's commentary up...I pause to reflect on the endings that tomorrow will bring, and the beginnings that will be born. The possibilities are limitless, and memories are waiting to be made. Until then...
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