Saturday, July 22, 2017

Past, Present, and Future

Molly and I headed to the Y this morning for some working out. We started on the treadmill, since it's too hot outside for wimpy woggers to get out. Molly stopped halfway to get on the torture machine known as the elliptical (which requires more coordination than I can contemplate right now). Once we were both done, we hopped on the bikes (not to be confused with "cycling") for a bit. And of course, once we were completely done, we headed to Noshville for breakfast. We needed to replace all those calories we burned!!

Molly agreed to make healthy breakfasts for us to eat this week, so we then went to Kroger to get ingredients. She makes individual quiches and hashbrown casseroles so that we just have to heat them up. Hey - at least we are trying to eat smart. By the time we were finished there, it was about 925 degrees outside, so I dropped her off at her house and then headed to mine. We both agreed that it was time for a shower and a nap.

Maribeth's minivan is at my house since I took them to the airport, so I decided to take it for a cleaning (with two little girls, it has a tendency to get a bit gross). Once I did that and returned home, I decided to sit around and stare at all the other stuff that needs doing.

My friend Cheryl then called and said that she and her nephew Todd would be coming by soon to pick up the trampoline that I took apart last week. Here's the story behind that ...

A long time ago, I taught a student named Camille. She was the ideal student, one of God's blessings. She was well behaved, well mannered, and very kind and sweet. Her mom is Cheryl. Camille easily passed from my class and I didn't hear from her until I found her attending the same high school as Sam (he was a few grades ahead). After she graduated, I really didn't hear from her until Facebook started up, I joined it, and we reconnected. Through her, Cheryl also reconnected, and we all bonded over our mutual love of all things Disney.

Now, back to the past. A few years after Camille was in my class, her cousin Todd was in my class. He was a little guy and pretty much the same kind of student as Camille. I really didn't stay in touch with him, except through Camille and Cheryl via their facebook pages. I was surprised to see that what a man little Todd had grown up to be. I facebook stalked him and saw photos of his wedding, and then photos of the birth of his son.

A few weeks ago, Cheryl had stopped by the house and I asked her if maybe Todd and his wife would want want the trampoline for their son. She asked them, and Todd's wife said yes, and so today they had a chance to come by and get it. Todd got out of the car, and it was such a blessing to see him all grown up. We reminisced a bit about some teachers and we got the trampoline loaded. Once it was all bungie-corded in, Todd and Cheryl got in the truck and left, hopefully to reassemble the trampoline for more enjoyment by a little guy.

There are many moments in my teaching career than I regret. There are many things that I wished I had done better. But the thing I am most blessed by, even knowing that I really had very little to do with, is when I see former students who have grown up to be such wonderful adults (although the fact that they are grown adults has me wondering about how old I am). Today was one of those blessings. In fact, it is a double blessings, knowing Todd back then and now. It's an indication that there is indeed hope for the future - we just have to invest and believe in what we have in the present.

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Today's blessings include: Y and Noshville with Molly; photos from the gang on vacay out West; visiting with Todd and Cheryl and loading up the trampoline; finally getting a shower and a nap; getting MB's van cleaned and throwing away the nasty gross bottle from who knows when

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