The Luckiest Man Alive

Well this is a new idea for me....sending my thoughts out into cyberspace. I am encouraged to do this because I've enjoyed the postings of others on their blogs, but I am uncertain that my ideas and my little world will be of any interest to anyone else. To fall upon a cliche, I guess "time (and YOU) will tell". So it's Tuesday evening on a hot and muggy (typical summer) day in Washington, D.C. Tomorrow is the last day of class for my students.

It is the end of my 22nd year as a teacher, and because of changes in venue, (IF I continue in this profession. . . .), it will still be another 18 before I retire (and probably more as the Republicans seem destine to recreate the framework that defines our society). But those are worries for another time. Today creates enough to occupy the mind without adding anxiety about the future to my list.

It has been a good year for me. In my career, I most remember cadres, 3, 14/15, and now 22. Not because this year has been easy....no year of teaching is. But because the chemistry between my students and myself has produced a sort of magic. Inspite of bumps, the journey has been another amazing one. When the bell rings at 8:40AM, and my 27 fourth graders pour into my room full of enthusiasm, confidence, and joy -- eager to experience the day and happy to be with one another, I am born again. Whatever the previous day left unresolved seems unimportant. The present moment -- the only thing any of us has any control over -- takes center stage. And thereafter grace follows grace, with a sprinkling of epiphanies -- just to keep the mix exciting, the mind eager. I often think that I am the luckiest man alive.