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| Me & my tree : ) |
I had a wonderful time last week visiting friends and ESD family in PR last week. There were a lot of emotions as I prepared to return for my first visit as one person put it, "an old married lady." But once I was sitting around a picnic table with my favorite ladies, it felt as if I had never left. We shared laughs and William's Pizza, and then everyone parted ways to get ready for Wednesday night church. With those moments to myself, I wandered across the property, checking on all of the plants and the gardens that I had spent so much time nurturing. Some things had changed. Everything had grown. I had a profound moment as I saw with my eyes what my mind had been trying to tell me; life here had continued to move on without me, but the evidence of my presence and work could still be seen. Even the flamingo decorations had been allowed to stay(!) Then I got to the back field and gasped as my eyes fell on one of the tallest trees. It was one that I had started from a seed. I had doted on it, and planted it with my students when it was big enough. We guarded it from teenagers driving lawnmowers. Our class rabbit, Earl Grey, was buried next to it when he died. It stayed standing through a couple of tropical storms and a small hurricane, and now it was growing and doing fine without me. So I thanked God for giving me that moment and I took that mindset with me to school the next day as I readied myself to see the kids. I marveled at how they had grown, too. Because I am a novelty now, everyone showed me their new tricks and lessons they had learned. One that I had taught since he was in diapers explained the whole solar system to me and how atmosphere (or the lack of) affects each planet. Others doing long division, and the one that had been my biggest frustration is now reading and paying attention and having converstaions with people. What joy to see those seeds have also been growing. More thoughts a little later..
