Lessons Learned

Now that we have been retired for nearly twelve years, it is enjoyable to look back on our professional and personal lives and reflect on lessons learned.

On the professional level, teaching at any level is exciting, exasperating, fulfilling and a wonderful job. Your students continually surprise you with what gets them interested in the curriculum you present. They learn in unique ways and challenge you to help them meet their needs. You do not succeed with all students and mourn those you lose along the way. You do not always realize the ways that you touch their lives, and I am always surprised to discover something done that made a difference in the life of a student. The best thing you can do is to let one of your teachers know what a significant impact they made in your life. This is the type of reward that keeps teachers in the profession. While you will not get rich from teaching in a monetary way, when you realize the effect you have had on a student, no dollar amount could be put on such delight. Recently a good friend, Terry, commented to me on my type of school administration and how she and Toby utilize these methods in their careers. What a wonderful way to get to the top of cloud nine!

I could have been and considered training to be a physician, and I also considered the ministry. I quickly gave up the latter since I felt this old sinner would be too much for a pulpit, and God would cause the beams in the ceiling to loosen and rain down on my head, effectively ending my career. Being a bit of a coward where beams are concerned, I looked elsewhere for professional inspiration. I almost completed pre-med training, lacking only one course in comparative anatomy, when I realized that I did not want to work with sick people but indeed preferred working with young people in their process of getting an education. I never regretted this decision, but my home town doctor was disappointed, as he had brief hopes of me learning to be a doctor and maybe even replacing him one day. I was sorry to let him down but had to stick with my own desires. Besides, he probably never knew how much I disliked organic chemistry.

Personally, I learned that relationships can survive the loss of love but not the loss of love and trust. Relationships take work and nurturing. I wish I had listened to my heart and not rushed into an early marriage, except that three wonderful boys resulted. I hope that they can forgive our divorce and learn necessary lessons to make their own marriages successful. Hw2 and I are lucky to have found each other's soul mate and know that our relationship can survive until we leave this earth. It took lots of trials and searching, but we have each other and love our 'Brady Bunch family'. Somehow this brings to my mind, "Living well is the best reward."