44 Years Later...

Tonight we got to celebrate the beginning of a new season in my mom's life. 44 years ago, she started her career. She decided this year that it would be her last as a full time teacher. She taught 37.5 of those 44 years (taking off a few years in between to birth and care for my sister and I). Her last 27 years have been at the same school, Edgewater Elementary.

It is amazing in these times where people often change jobs every few years that someone could stick to it for that long, especially when it involves the giving of yourself so much every day. After a full day handling my two boys, I can't imagine having 20+ little ones running around and trying to get them to sit for a few hours, let alone learn something all at once. Teaching a whole group of young people for more than a hour is a total mystery to me, even after being surrounded by teachers for my whole life. My mom was a teacher, my dad was a teacher (turned administrator), my sister is a teacher, and my wife was a teacher before William was born.

It was encouraging to hear the ways she has affected so many people. Evidently she has had a lot of impact recently in the area of the environment (didn't have a clue). Even though we heard a lot about that this evening, I can only think about the impact of her love for and investment into the hundreds of kids she taught and the ripple effect that has on thousands.

Mom - so proud of you. You are an inspiration, especially in how you would pray for your kids (probably mostly for your sanity, but also I am sure for their souls. :) ) We love you and are REALLY looking forward to being able to spend more time with you. We're hoping you'll be able to squeeze us in with the 19 million other things you are inevitably going to do to keep yourself busy. :)