An editorial director for the Dallas Morning News, Jim Wright, wrote in 1971 that the burning question of all youth is “How can I be unique like everyone else?” And as I ponder which magic words to use to convince readers that my blog is a more compelling perspective into life’s great mysteries than hundreds of others, I can think of not one way my life and observations are more valid than those.
What I can attest to is that I’ve been allowed glimpses into the lives of so many others in my role of teacher, daughter, wife, and friend, and my lifelong tendency toward introversion has often made me more an observer than participant in various scenarios. I imagine most would agree that we have a clearer view of things when we’re not in the thick of them, right? So perhaps that is the secret sauce of my blog: while my own life has been a relatively small one, I’ve encountered more through vicarious means than I’ll ever have time to experience firsthand my one, brief life. C.S. Lewis is attributed as saying, “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You, too? I thought I was the only one,’” and my hope is that in reading these posts that they might, at least occasionally, inspire a similar feeling in you.
As the biographical blurb on the home page indicates, I’ve been a teacher longer than I’ve not been a teacher. It is who I am, and even after 28 years in the profession I am excited about what I do. Being a teacher, especially of students who are too young to sugar-coat their thoughts and aren’t particularly interested in doing so anyway, keeps a person humble. You’re never going to leave a class of sixth graders feeling particularly clever, fashionable, or “woke.” But I cannot imagine another job that could remind me of all the reasons I should be grateful, joyful, and curious.
I am also a daughter of two parents who make me proud every day. I can’t recall a time of needing space from them; theirs is the influence on which I have built my life. As all of us are growing older, I am even more protective of the time I get to spend with them.
I am a lover of animals, dogs especially, and have been the guardian of three Dutch Shepherds over the past 15 years who have contributed to my physical activity, my paltry bank balance, and my capacity to love in new ways daily.
Most recently, though, I have become a wife and bonus mom, and if I thought that by my mid-40s I had really learned all I needed to, this experience has knocked the wind right out of my sails in the best possible way. Meeting the man who truly seemed to spring, fully formed, from my mental sketch of the ideal partner, robbed me of my cynicism and skepticism where love is concerned, and it made me believe that patience is indeed rewarded. Being a newlywed in middle age, with possibly more life behind me than before me, has intensified my urgency to examine my life and become a better human because my husband deserves no less from me.
My life might seem like a small one to some, but I often feel like the image of the duck swimming across a pond: on the surface it appears to be effortlessly floating along, while below there is a continual expenditure of energy to make it to the destination. This blog represents the “paddling feet” of my mind processing through each day’s lessons in the hope of reaching my “destination” of being an advocate, daughter, friend, teacher, and wife who adds value to the lives of those she knows.
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