All Good Things Must Come to an End

These past 26 years of teaching have been filled with many moments of joy, a few tears and a not a little frustration! I've taught all grades from first through seventh. I have grown tremendously as a person and teacher. My thoughts of teaching and what is most important have shifted over time as I've taught hundreds of students over the years. 

One of the things I've done well as a teacher is forming relationships. I have always taken seriously my effect on students' lives. During the school year, a teacher spends more waking hours with children than their parents! Teachers steer the class to either be supportive and loving, or bullying and hurtful! I tried to create a loving, caring environment for all of my students. Some groups of students were more easy to manage than others, but all had their rewards!

One of the early schools I worked at had a program for students with Autism, including those who were very intelligent, but challenged with appropriate behavior. Learning to rein in my own emotions in order to deal with some of these students' demanding behaviors was both frustrating and empowering at the same time. These challenges in the classroom helped me to deal with people in general and manage my own emotions and behaviors outside of the classroom. 

As I approached my final weeks as a classroom teacher, I was filled with both relief from the workload and sadness at leaving this special time in my life. I will continue to work with students, but will not have my own special classroom family! Much of my teaching memories are filled with funny, sad and interesting stories of my students! 

                                           Lancaster Tigers: 5th and 6th science and math

                                         Christway Chaparrals: 5th and 6th Bible, science, history

                                                     Permenter Shorthorns: 7th math

                                                 Giddens Jaguars: 4th, 2nd, 1st grades

                                   Bagdad Bobcats: 3rd and 2nd grades, Instructional Assistant

Dusk in the Country

 There is a time between the busyness of day and the tiredness of night called dusk. 

As the sun slips below the horizon, the wind calms and everything becomes peaceful. Coolness settles. Animals wind down, Chickens head for the roost, flutter, and settle for the night. Doves coo. Frogs croak. Bats swoop after roused mosquitos. Coyotes howl as they ready for a nightly prowl. Owls hoot then fly silently from treetop to treetop trying to spot a scurrying, unaware mouse. 

All seems unfamiliar and mysterious. This magical time lasts for a few precious moments until darkness closes in and swallows it up. 

Growing Up on the Job

I had almost forgotten about my first, full-time job back when I was 18 years old. I had babysat and pulled a couple of shift as a substitute dishwasher up to that time. These jobs just put a little money in my pocket, but were nothing to depend upon.

I had moved to New Orleans, La, my first move from home! Everything was different and a little scary! I picked up a job as a cashier at a Barkers Department Store.

To get to this store, I had to cross the Huey P. Long Bridge. This bridge was very narrow, barely room for too trucks to run abreast. There was another problem, the bridge had been started at both ends and built to the middle, where it was about a foot off! Well, they just jogged it over a foot! You needed to be aware of this little error so you wouldn’t either hit the curb or stray into the other lane! To add to this excitement, a train trestle ran way up above the lanes of traffic in the middle of the bridge! Every drive was an adventure!

Barkers was like a small Walmart. To use the old-style registers you had to understand how to count back change. I wasn’t very good at it and hardly ever did my register balance at the end of my shift! It usually was over, which was good for the store, but bad for the customer! I wasn’t a very good cashier.

Each week there was a sales flyer with specials. I was supposed to somehow keep up with all of the items on sale, and there were a lot! My boss, Mr. Strict (no joke), was not happy that he had to come to my register and void ring ups often because customers would inform me that the item was on sale after I rang it up at the regular price!

We also had to inform customers of item limits, a few of which ended in scenes like the woman that wanted an overflowing cart of wicker baskets on sale for $1 each! There was a limit of 5 . I had to allow Mr. Strict to engage the customer who was quite angry!

As New Orleans is a port city, we often had foreign customers who didn’t pay taxes at the store but at customs when they left to return home. Again, Mr. Strict would be at my counter voiding the sale for me to start all over!

Often these foreign customers would buy items to resell in their country, so there would be a basket of a certain type dress in several different colors and sizes! Once a customer bought a bean bag chair and proceeded to dump all of the little pellets out into the parking lot so she could get the bean bag chair in the trunk of a taxi.

I had a colorful peer at this store. Her/his name was Erica. She/he told me she wanted her boyfriend to change his name to Jack, so she could change her name to Jill and they could be Jack and Jill! Daily one would hear Erica’s booming male voice announce her entry into the woman’s restroom. She was nice to us all, but took a little getting used to!

Weekly I was paid with cash in a little brown envelope. I never brought home over $100 for a week’s pay. I still have these little brown envelopes which surprises no one who knows me!

Barker's Department Store (photo credit: Pinterest)

Huey P. Long Bridge (photo credit: John A. Weeks III)

Weeds or Wildflowers?

I love wildflowers. I started this post many years ago and never finished it. My first spring with James has brought it back to mind.

He loves a well-manicured lawn and is meticulous to keep it all edged, weeded, and tidy. I, on the other hand, love a natural lawn, weeds (wildflowers) and all! I love to see the birds, butterflies, and bees flitting about. My ideal lawn looks wild and unkempt! In our first spring together we had to sort out our lawn issues!

James bought a second-hand riding mower, brought it home, started it up and headed out to the shoulder of the drive. I quickly ran ahead of him, pointing at various clumps and shaking my head "no". He dutifully went around my clumps and made a choppy run at the shoulder of the drive.

I then started mowing around the areas that I wanted to save in the front yard. He thought I was crazy and said that was the strangest mowing pattern he had seen! But we at least had an abundance of bluebonnets and black foot daisies!

So the bluebonnets finally died back and he stated that now he'd like to mow. Well, the Indian blankets were now popping their buds up! Along with the Mexican hats and the skeleton flowers, there were various verbena and such. He once again set mowing aside.

As we discussed mowing last weekend, I pointed out that the horsemint (Lemon Beebalm) was just now budding! We needed to wait until it had bloomed and seeded.

We never argued, but I could see that there was some frustration at my love of wildflowers and lack of interest in a lawn. As we sat in the swing the other night, James pointed out to a coupe of trees and suggested that he be allowed a lawn from the edge of the trees to the house and I be allowed a wildflower meadow the rest of the way. I thought that was a very reasonable and fair compromise!

Now we have to decide how to handle the back yard.....

Look for a Window

It seems the things we worry about the most aren't necessarily the things that actually go wrong. Those things just spring up on the spur of the moment. They leave you a bit perplexed as you try to figure out your next step. Sometimes these are big, weighty problems and sometimes just little inconveniences. It is hard to stop the emotions and look around for the blessing. 

Our recent reminder was on a camping trip to a local state park. We pulled in late, after a busy work week. We were somewhat stressed and wanted to begin to unwind. James was outside setting. up while I worked inside. As he turned on the water, I heard an unusually loud spraying noise. I quickly found that February's ice storm had broken a pipe behind the toilet and water was spraying out and quickly filling the shower floor! I turned the water off at the hydrant and went back in to survey the situation. Since the shower had a built-in drain, no water left the contained area, so there was no additional damage. But it was obvious that we'd have no running water on this trip!

I went out to find James and tell him about the situation and found him walking back to the trailer along a paved trail, our private campsite trail to the restroom! Yes, we had our own little path that led directly to the restroom! No long hikes in the middle of the night! There was a need and a solution provided! We really didn’t have time to be concerned! God provided. I immediately thought of the saying, "when God closes as door, look for a window!" I don't think God caused a break in our pipe, but I do think he provided a solution, we just had to open our eyes and see it!

The Ugly Shoes - A Children's Story

Once upon a time, well let's say exactly in 1959, a little girl was born. She was loved and cared for by her parents and seemed to be normal in every way.

Soon the baby became a toddler and it was time to walk, only she couldn't. Her feet turned in and her knees knocked together and she constantly fell.

This wee one began to see doctors who worked to stretch the tendons and strengthen the muscles to help her walk. She also wore oxford shoes with metal braces inside.

All was well until school started! At school, most of the other little girls had pretty, black Mary Jane shoes, cute go-go boots, Ked's sneakers, except the little girl. She still had large oxford shoes; ugly shoes! She wanted those pretty Mary Janes, but all the wanting and wishing didn't make that come true! Being different was hard.

Another student in class was different too. It was 1965, and, up until that year, the children with lighter skin were separated from the children with darker skin. This year was different. One little girl with beautiful dark skin and bunches of dark braids was allowed in the class. The two little girls became friends! Being different with someone else is much easier to bear!

As time went on, the shoes were no longer an important issue and children were allowed to go to school together regardless of differences. The two girls remained friends despite time and distance. Both grew up to follow different paths, one of motherhood and homemaking, the other of sports and career.

The moral of this story is that to be different is okay. We must learn to be brave, to rise above obstacles of the mind or imposed by others, and to follow our own path!

Be bold! Be brave! Be different!

Janice and I in first grade

Janice and I all grown up

Dr. Janice Hilliard of Hilliard
Creative Education & Development Solutions, LLC

Joy Cometh in the the Morning!

Last summer found me in quite a state of depression! I tried to keep busy and convince myself that being single had many benefits such as eating what you want when you want, cleaning house only if you wanted to, going where you wanted with whom you wanted, etc... Some of that helped with short-term relief, but there was a deep emptiness that always returned once the thought or activity passed. My family began to worry about me as they often found me crying for no reason. I felt like a burden to them.

I had tried to date once and was a bit frightened off by a pushy person who made me feel very uneasy. I prayed and felt confirmed to try again, only to be more wary in the choices I made when allowing a conversation. In the dating site I chose, I decided to only respond to men who made a bold statement about their faith and family and weren't pushy when contacted.

I ended up only meeting 3 men on the site. All three were polite and respectful, but only James caught my attention! We met for breakfast early one Saturday. As we talked, I could tell he had felt comfortable in his own skin. It was a pleasant first meeting. I was surprised when he talked to me later and suggested we meet for coffee the following evening! Our conversation was still pleasant and somewhat superficial, but I could see we had a lot in common.

A couple of weeks passed and we met for dinner. We continued simple conversations, but were slowly sharing more about our past and how we came to be dating at our ages. He and I were both widowed. I respected the fact that he had stayed faithful to his wife for over 40 years and had cared for her devotedly during her long illness and death. I felt he was someone whom could be counted on and would stay the course.

I invited him over where he met my daughter and son-in-law. We then went for ice cream. Our next date was bowling with his son and daughter-in-law. We both had made no commitment, but I was certainly enjoying his company!

I was scheduled to leave town for a week away with family. James seemed a bit sad I was leaving which caused me to think that maybe he was starting to care for me. We met for a quick lunch as I was getting ready to leave. We talked throughout the week and I decided that I wouldn't go out with anyone else until I had decided if James was starting to feel for me as I was for him. He asked to pick me up from the airport! He was there to send me off and pick me up! That was encouraging!

It wasn't long until we decided that we would see each other exclusively. I went on family events with him and he with me. Our families were concerned that we didn't rush things, but liked our "special friend"!

Well, to make a long story short, we soon decided to marry and did so at James' son's and daughter-in-law's house. It was a beautiful wedding filled with family and a few close friends.

We have been happy starting our new lives together. We have shared our sadness and created happy memories. We have helped each other heal from our losses and share the common desire to support the memories of our late spouses as we move forward with our lives.

Psalm 3:5 "...weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning!" God has certainly brought joy to my life by allowing me to meet James!