He stuttered and stammered. he wasn't the king of England. He was our custodian. He became king-like to me one day. I was riffed as a speech therapist so was given a teaching assignment for special ed. Before the start of school, the principal handed me the keys. He warned me not to lose those keys, because as he said: "The kids you have are very light fingered and one of those keys opens the front door!" Incidentally the "kids" he referred to were 13, 14, and 15 year old non-readers whose only goal in life was to stay out of school, and in trouble ... Well, it was my first day as a rookie teacher on the job, it was 8:00 in the morning, and my keys were gone .. out of the door .. I had left them in the door, turned my back for one instant and they were gone! My life was on that key ring with those keys including my car keys and my home keys! More importantly, my job was on that key ring! "They might show up," Roy said. "Just don't tell the p-p-principal that I gave you n - new keys," he said, "They might show up!" And they did, one key at a time in almost every hallway garbage can at the junior high. How he found them, I'll never know. he kept me hopeful for six weeks. I kept my job. He was somneone I'll never forget. He's gone now.
In our careers as school employees, we all have memories of the special ones. The ones who are no longer here. You know who I mean. They are the ones you really miss. The ones you remember. We might have called them friend. They walked down halls as technicians, staff, drivers, administrators, team builders, or assistants. They were the ones you could count on. They were there to share a laugh, or cry, or a passion for kids. They worked in schools, or for schools, and with a certain joie de vive kept us on time, in line, in the loop, in touch, in tune, safe, trained, paid, fed, transported, clean, comfortable, mentored or motivated. Some were heroes. Employees who gave up sick leave for those who needed it. The school nurse who quietly fed poor kids breakfast well before the free and reuced breakfast became reality. The principal who, rain or shine, played with kids during recess for almost every day of his life on the job. The coach who gave lost kids second chances. Kids thrived and we became better for having known them. The essence of who they were, will reside as special meoories in our hearts forever. -mek
"Endings"
As we know ...
Endings can be beginnings
If we gaze another way
Endings can be fresh incites
If we allow our hearts the stay!
Stay in the moment, stay in the reality
Carpe diem, seize the day!
Inside every memory of
loss, sadness, or grief
Awaits a new beginning
For turning over life's proverbial leaf.
Endings can be beginnings
As a sage used to say:
"Endings are stubborn beginnings
That refuse to lose their way!"
mek
