Past to Present

I love old photos. Yesterday through the magic of today's technology, I put my memory card in Mom's computer and was able to bring home pictures that until recently had been slides, unviewed by most of us for many years.

Here are "the three little ones", Hope, Dave, and Doug, on one of our trips to Oregon. What kind of car is that anyway?!

Our house in Cairo, Nebraska had a peony border that was just fantastic when in full bloom.

Little Doug and Dave are pretty cute too. Wish the photo wasn't so blurry.


Riding our bikes around the block could entertain us for many happy summer hours. It's Hope, me, Mark, Linda, Dave and Doug. Dad was great at finding nice used bikes for all of us!

I remember feeling a lot more grown up than I look on my 12th birthday, a few months after moving to Oregon!

Here are the nieces and nephews with Uncle Tom and Aunt Jean! What a tribe!

Brianna and Tyler look like they posed for this one....are we done yet?!

I love this one of my dad up in the tree with his grandkids, Brianna, Jenna, Craig and Tyler.


Of course, my favorite has to be my dad with my baby Craig.

It's bitter sweet to look back on happy times when the present is uncertain. I pray that in his final season on this earth, my kind, gentle father will know how much he is loved and honored, and that God will bless him with peace and comfort.

I had to dash over to the Academic Awards....

During each of the past ten years I've worked at the middle school, at least one of my sons has been a student at the high school next door. The last one is now a senior.

The administrators and teachers I've worked with tend to have high-achieving teenagers, and every year in March several of them dash over to the high school for the yearly academic awards. I have never been invited. Until last week.

None of my three darling boys have ever been driven to to be the best that they could be academically. Don't ask me why, I certainly gave them a good example. I believe I received at least one award every year in high school, from Outstanding Home Ec Student to Outstanding Typing and Shorthand Student. And of course, National Honor Society, 4.0, valedictorian....yes, me. Admittedly, the standards weren't all that strict back then. An A in subjects like typing and choir counted just as much as an A in calculus, and I confess I took a lot of typing and choir, and very little calculus. Okay, no calculus whatsoever. But still, I did my best with the gifts I was given! (And now someone will accuse me of bragging again!)

But somehow I ended up with boys whose attitude was, "Why should I waste time studying for a test when I know I'll get a B without studying?" Yes, Eric actually said that and lived by it. The first year I worked at the school, my freshman son burst into the office after school to proudly and loudly announce that he no longer had an F in Oceanography, he had raised his grade to a D! I was so proud!

But finally...last week I received an invitation to the West Albany High School Academic Awards. Since I was acquainted with the secretary who sent them out, I immediately called her and asked if there had been a mistake. I've seen my kid's report cards! She assured me he was getting an award in a subject area and he would be getting notification about it.

So last week he came over after school and showed me the invitation stating that he was receiving the award for Achievement in Computer Education. Of course, that made perfect sense! Was he jumping for joy like I was? No, in fact he said, "I'm not going, I don't want to stand up in front of everybody and get a certificate." Fortunately the boy still obeys his mama.

I was planning to dash next door tomorrow morning to attend the awards program, but this morning at 8:30 I got a call from the high school and the person mentioned the awards were today. What?! I checked my invitation and yes indeed, today was the day. I called Nick, who doesn't have a morning class, and he was still in bed! He had forgotten! He groaned that he would never make it by 9:00 and I informed him that he most certainly would! And so he did. Can you just imagine the bitter irony if I had missed this exciting, once-in-a-lifetime event! Sadly, his father missed it, as he and Zeek the dog were out on their morning walk!

So now I belong to the group of parents who had to dash over to the high school to the academic awards. I enjoyed the privilege of hearing a teacher tell everyone about my talented son's skills and accomplishments and predict a bright future ahead of him. (So what if he was sitting in the wrong spot due to oversleeping. The counselor directed him to sit in an empty chair where he fit alphabetically in the section of 4.0 students. So he was the only one to stay sitting when they all rose to line up for their awards! Pretty funny, actually!)

Lest you are thinking that I'm a very shallow parent, I hasten to assure you I certainly love all three of my boys, even the two who never made it to the revered academic awards! I'm so thankful they are all healthy, smart, talented, loving young men. But rest assured, I will celebrate each and every time they receive any recognition for using the abilities God has blessed them with!

Family Times

I absolutely love being part of a big family. My Canadian brother John and his wife Betsy were passing through this weekend, and we got together at my parent's house yesterday afternoon. We had to take the obligatory group picture. I guess we do this to document how well we are all aging. We rarely include our spouses in our group pictures, probably because they aren't quite as good looking as we are.

This picture really sums up my role this family. Ever since my beautiful, sweet little sister Jean was born when I was an awkward, frizzy-haired 17-year-old struggling with my self esteem, dear little Jean has been the center of attention in our family. I have dealt with it very gracefully, with nary a bit of jealousy or sibling rivalry. I'm sure she wants to be just like me when she grows up. She already imitates my loud, annoying laugh.

I feel quite pleased that I accomplished my goal of not looking too fat in this photo. I don't know why my dear brother Doug looks so alarmed.

I wanted to get a picture of my boys with their grandpa, but it was somewhat awkward trying to arrange them around his chair. When I look at this picture, I want to say, "I feel the same way, Dad. What are we going to do with these crazy boys!"

I truly love and value everyone in my family, and though they may mock me and tease me, I feel assured that they return my esteem.

Teachers are Super Fabulous!

Today was one of those days where I felt like I had a bit part in a soap opera about a middle school. There was drama swirling all around me, involving both students and staff, but I was just an onlooker dealing with the fallout.

It was a hectic day in general, with payroll paperwork due today. I also had to hurry and find last minute subs and coverage for various classes throughout the day. Fortunately we have terrific subs who can come in at the last minute and teachers who are very gracious about covering classes for others during their prep time.

With my position in the office, my actual contact time with students is usually fairly brief. However, today after a "girl fight", one of the combatants was in the conference room right across from my desk for two hours, and she was less than a delight, refusing to sit down or even stay in the room, constantly complaining that she was bored and how unfair it was that she was there. She even had the gall to tell me that I was getting on her nerves! I tried not to feel too happy when a policeman took her away in handcuffs. Truly, I hope she gets the help she needs.

I missed one young man who has been sent to the office every day this week. I'm not sure what he does in class, he is always very polite and personable in the office. Last Friday after the dance he came in requesting a refund on his $3 for admittance and pizza, due to a staff member's "unsatisfactory behavior". Earlier this week he told me I appeared quite giddy when I came back from lunch. Two days ago he was working on a project when I walked by the in-school suspension area, with a plastic cup, plastic fork and stapler. He told me I was interrupting a very delicate moment in his catapult building operation, "Or as I like to say, my catapork", pointing at the fork. Yesterday as he was walking out after a visit with the assistant principal, I told him I hoped the rest of his afternoon was good and he said, "Well, my parents didn't get called, and I'm not dead, so I'm feeling much better, thank you!"

Then there's the young man who is always a bright spot. An assistant is always with him, and when they come to the office about once a week, he asks us what our favorite color, ice cream, animal, etc. is. He is always very pleased if we say something that no one else has mentioned yet! Today when I came back from lunch with my impulse purchase of a couple of blooming hyacinths, I saw him heading into the office and I asked, "What's your favorite flower?" He replied with a big smile, "Roses!" I told him to come on in and I would show him my current favorite. He came in, enjoyed their fragrance, and asked what they were called. When I told him, he said, "Well, I can see why! High a scents!"

I often think of Helen, my good friend and our former office manager, who went to be with Jesus a year and a half ago. I still miss her. She loved all the kids so much, and was always able to find some good in the most unlovable kids. It does not come naturally to me as it seemed to come to her. I have to work on it, and I am determined to work harder on it. I have much admiration for my principal and assistant principal, because they both genuinely care about all the kids and maintain so much patience and positivity in spite of all the serious issues they have to deal with.

This year more than ever, I have so much respect for teachers who spend all day five days a week in overcrowded classrooms with lots of kids who are apathetic, disrespectful and sometimes downright annoying! They work very hard to keep the difficult kids in class and are so apologetic when they have to send them to the office to be dealt with. I admire the teachers at our school so much; they are a very caring and dedicated group of people. From where I sit, they are always extremely cooperative and helpful when I need anything. I am truly delighted to be working with this amazing group of people.

And of course, the majority of students are a delightful mix of personalities who are easy to care about. It's just that a few really difficult kids can quickly suck the joy out of your day.

I don't suppose the teachers in my building have any idea how much I appreciate the effort and energy they put into doing this very difficult and important job. Sometimes I get a little too focused on my own paperwork and deadlines and forget to be as helpful as I should. Fortunately, they have great personalities and some very highly developed senses of humor! The next couple of weeks leading up to Spring Break can be a little crazy, but I hope and pray that it will be calm and that they will all have a great break, coming back refreshed and energized for the rest of the school year! I love you, teachers, you are the BEST! As one of you likes to say, I hope you have a super fabulous weekend!