Echoes

Forty-four days are left.                                              

For many people, retirement means one major change:  not having to set the alarm for the job they held for years and being able to spend more time in leisurely pursuits.

My out-the-door moment will involve a change of pace, for sure, but also a change of place.  Gail America, the thriving community of just over 150 citizens, has enveloped me since 1978.  I've lived here since 1984 in a teacher house provided by a school district which has taken such good care of its employees.  My house will return to the school as I have been but the grateful steward; a large part of my heart and soul will be left here as well.

In the next month, posting photos of former students and colleagues will grace my social media pages because sharing them with others is vital to remembering the best parts of my story here in Borden County.  These "voices of the past" beckon now that I am making time to listen to them once again.  In forty-one years of teaching all in the same school, there have been many such echoes.

While it may seem a rather storybook existence for me these past few years, not all of my memories here conjure a healthy pride.....

...because not every child was reached.
...because not every moment seized.
...because opportunities to encourage were neglected.
...because my marriage failed in front of my students.
...because my lack of communication with colleagues led to unnecessary resentment.
...because sometimes I lost student papers, receipts, and my trademark optimism.
...because I forgot sometimes to walk in students' shoes.

You better believe I would click backspace for a chance to re-type some of my story.

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On August 21, 1978, teacher aide Melba Rinehart served as the best welcoming committee anyone could ever ask for as my newlywed 22-year-old self turned the corner to walk towards my first classroom.  From that moment on, Borden County raised me (or is that reared me?), loved  me, forgave me, encouraged me, and most importantly valued me when my self-worth faded. Teaching saved me--what I have tried to do these past many years is simply pay it forward the only way I could:  by working hard.

It went so fast, this most-rewarding-of-all-jobs. Time usually does when having fun. And boy, did I.