Memories: My Last Day of Teaching

First Post of the Day

Eight years ago yesterday, I retired from teaching. It was earlier than I'd wanted, but my health was tanking. 

It was a wise thing to do - in those eight years I've had five major surgeries, a precancerous mass on my pancreas removed, a year and a half of hemiplegic migraines (which stopped as suddenly as they began), and more. Honestly, there have been days when I have been very, very grateful that I was retired and not having to worry about my students.

Local schools finished up yesterday and I felt a little blue that I was not at Hershey, standing on the sidewalk, and waving goodbye as the kids left for summer break.

This is a Hershey tradition that I loved - eighteen buses full of kiddos chugging past

while the entire staff stood outside waving goodbye to each bus. (It took four videos to capture it all!)

A fellow staff member had suggested that I make a video of my classroom before closing it down so that I could always remember it.

So, just before the kids came in for their last day and began helping me remove posters and projects, pack up books, and take the room down to four walls, desks, and chairs, I grabbed my phone and filmed it as it was.

I am glad I did - looking at it yesterday made me smile, cry, and remember some awesome times with students. Good memories.

On that very last day of teaching in 2018, my students had surprised me with this video - each one had written me a note and then one girl and her mother had spliced them all together along with photos from our classroom web site into a video message that I treasure to this day. (And it ends with Abby!)

I pulled up that video yesterday and watched it with fondness and (no surprise) a lot of tears. 

Thanks, folks. I love you, too. (And your video still makes me cry.)

The fourth graders in my classroom are all graduating from high school this weekend and the fifth graders just completed their first year of college, gap year, or employment.

Congratulations to you all and best wishes for a very bright future. I hope it's so bright that you'll need to wear shades, just as you did in the video!

 

It's Gonna Be a Day!

Busy day here - up early fixing things for an after-church lunch with close friends who are in town, then when that's over, I will be making a dish to take to Curt and Vanessa's for our annual Super Bowl gathering. (I don't even know who is playing this year...)

Sorry, but there will be no Horsie Mama Super Bowl game on the blog this year - I just haven't had time to research and put one together.

Whoever said that retirement is slow and boring is living a different life than me!

I'll be back as usual tomorrow. Stay 'tooned!

Dogs of Our Lives: Pepper Shares on Retirement

Hi, folks. It's me, Pepper. Lynn's beloved dog and partner.

Lynn's home is the old folks' home for me - I'm retired from being a working dog.

My Seeing Eye partner was named Sarah. She and her husband Kevin are both blind, but I only guided Sarah. Kevin uses a cane to get around.

Sarah (with her mom and me) taught me to "Greet" - to jump up to say hello.

The Seeing Eye taught me to never jump up, but they also taught me to do as my partner asked me to do. Lynn and Craig have told me that they'd rather I not Greet them or other people and I respect that. (Although when I am feeling insecure, I will do it to Lynn or Craig. Lynn says she understands and I can do it then because it tells her how I am feeling.)

Tate and Nacho's mom, Kathy, is a friend of Sarah's and when I got really sick with Addison's Disease and needed to retire, Kathy recommended Lynn and Craig to Sarah as a great retirement home. Sarah interviewed four couples and chose Lynn and Craig.

It was the right decision as far as I am concerned!

I love them both so much, but I consider Lynn my partner and I look out for her. She is retired like me and sometimes I need to remind her that the road isn't safe to cross or that a blaring fire alarm means she MUST leave the house with me.

I keep a REALLY good eye on her at all times. She is my responsibility and I take that seriously.

I am a very good Seeing Eye Dog, but retirement was a bit of a learning curve when I came home with Lynn and Craig. I am very careful with my tail now. (Lynn was really nice about this "domino effect," as she called it.)

While I do miss guiding and all the interesting places I got to go when I was in harness, I must say how nice retirement is.

I get lots and lots of naps.

My favorite place to sleep is in Lynn's lap. She says she especially appreciates that in the winter when she is chilly. (She also says that I get a bit in the way of her book or Kindle, though.)

Service dog that I am, I do my best to make sure she is warm all over. (She laughed and said I needed Bloodhound ears, but she also said thank you to me for trying to keep her feet warm.)

Sometimes she returns the favor when my feet are cold.

I have four feet to squeeze into two shoes, but I've learned to do two feet per shoe!

I have some really good friends who are like family to me.

Although they do tend to hog the bed at times.

And sometimes I have to share when I'd really rather not. Tammo climbed into MY bed with me in Lynn's office. Uninvited!

I ended up leaving when he did that - he's a nice boy but I could not stretch out with him crowding me like that!

Outdoor naps in the summer are really nice - can't do that when I am in harness!

I keep my eye on Lynn constantly and she does the same for me. 

Lynn and I make a really good team in our joint retirement and feel blessed to have each other.

Addison's Disease may have derailed my career as a Seeing Eye Dog, but I have found happiness and usefulness in this stage of my life, too.

 

"What Do You DO All Day??"

When I was a stay at home mom, people would often ask me, "What do you DO all day??" as though they thought I just sat around painting my nails, taking bubble baths, and watching soap operas all day. 

And most who asked that question would then add, "I would go crazy if I had nothing to do." 

Nothing to do?? Really? I never could understand that question and response, especially when it was asked while my six kids were standing around me.

Sometimes I really had to bite my tongue when I responded. 

Now that I am retired, I get those kinds of questions again, and they are still coupled with something along the lines of, "I think I'd die of boredom." 

My answer has not changed because I am just as busy now as I was when I was a stay at home mama or during my teaching career.

Current things that keep me busy:

~ Dogs, including watching the pack several times a week while Lisa is at work.

Honestly, this is Pepper's favorite sleeping position.

~ Sewing clothing for the upcoming Feast of the Hunter's Moon.

A just completed trade shirt

with sleeve buttons.

~ Preparing to make a regency gown for Vanessa to wear to a Jane Austen event. (Pics of that project to come another time.)

~ Making haversacks, to sell and to donate.

The circled ones just sold, but if you need any Stablemate, Curio/Venti, or Classic sized haversacks, these are available.

~ Piecing together the BreyerFest history series.

This outline has been completely blown out of the water now that I've gotten so much research done!

~ Having Ian, Mila, and Lukie over to help do yard work and clean the garage, etc. 

Taking a break together while working on the garage.

Weeding and then laying fresh mulch in my stepping stone garden. 

When we've finished, I pay them and we get some fast food for lunch 

and then we play games around the dining room table for a while. I love those days.

~ Volunteering in Indianapolis and here in West Lafayette.

~ Medical appointments, tests, treatments, and more.

As always, there are things going on that need to be addressed.

But I have a great team of doctors who care for me.

~ Planning Happy Trails V, the fun show/pony party I hold.

Of course, there are other things that keep me busy, things that I enjoy doing, that crop up during the day or the week.

The next time someone asks me what I do all day, I'll just refer them to this blog post and continue on doing what I am doing. It's all good! 

(And by the way, suggestions for classes for the Happy Trails V show are welcome! Put them in the comments or email me!)

 

My Sister of the Heart, Lorna, Retires

 Second Post of the Day

Honoring my dear friend, fellow educator, and and sister of the heart, Lorna.

This is my sister of the heart, Lorna. 

We taught together in Illinois, and twenty years later are still so close, we text each other almost daily. 

Because she and I shared so many of the same personal values and beliefs, we also shared not only our teaching philosophies but our life philosophies, too. 

We became very close friends and soon were calling each other sister.

Lorna met and married the man of her dreams several years ago and I went back to Illinois for the wedding.

She hit the jackpot with Michael - nine years later, he still brings her flowers several times a week! 

Lorna taught for many years and she excelled at helping the kids who needed not only a teacher, but sometimes some mothering, too.

Always one with insight into what the kids needed (and more than once, what her fellow teachers did, too),  Lorna made a huge impact on students and staff.

She is extremely loving and has the tenderest heart. That means that sentimental things can bring her to tears quickly. Or you might get a sweet picture like this from her at Christmas.

Lorna retired last week. She is leaving a HUGE hole in the hearts of her students, the teachers, and the staff at her school. 

Lorna and Liz (another retiring teacher) clowning around as they cut their retirement cake.

In my opinion (shared by others who also taught with her), Lorna is absolutely irreplaceable. Her gift for seeing the good in everyone, her ability to connect, influence, and touch lives for good, will be sorely missed. She is a beloved part of the Yankee Ridge Elementary School community and is leaving holes in the hearts of many.

Including her sister of the heart, me.

Well done, Lorna. Thank you for all that you taught me, the insights you shared, and the love that you gave. Proud to have taught with you, to call you friend, and so honored to have you as my sister of the heart.

Enjoy your well deserved retirement and this new chapter in your life.

I love you, Sis!

Lynn