From Beginning to End

Can you believe that my last post was at the beginning of this school year, and now I'm facing the last week of school? The year has literally flown, galloped, sped, and whatever other form of quickly moving triteness I can't think of at the minute, by! It has gone by so quickly that I totally forgot to blog! I guess that shows that blogging has not yet become a habit for me - obviously. Maybe I'll do better this summer. Maybe / maybe not! That remains to be seen.

In this year I have seen so many wonderful events - a new, beautiful granddaughter was born, and last week I got to know her so much better when sweet Mercedes and her mommy and brother came to visit us. She completely lit up my life with her winsome smiles, while little Daniel entertained us constantly with his shenanigans and fun-loving personality. We played Thomas trains until the last chug-chug-chug echoed down the hall into bed. And we read Pooh Bear every night so he could have "Sweet Dreams" about honey and other lovely Grammy thoughts.

Of course another recent highlight for this proud Mom is John's graduation from Harvard Law with his JD and in the top 10% of his class, yet. Not so long ago he was a tiny baby like Mercedes, and I also remember reading the Pooh books to him ad infinitum. Those Pooh books have turned now into Law books, of which he has shelves and shelves, that are now being packed into boxes to be moved to St. Louis for his first job as a clerk for a Federal Court Judge.

Homeschooling both John and Rachel has been so rewarding! They were both such quick learners, and usually did their very best. The students I now teach are often a different type of learners. I face bigger challenges now, and sometimes bigger disappointments. The rewards are also different, but as the end of the year approaches, and I choose the recipients of my awards, I realize that there are many rewards to this job, as well. When I see understanding dawn on the face of a Hispanic student as I explain the concept of apostrophe's, I feel rewarded. When a student returns from the High School and thanks me for helping them learn to read, because it made it possible for them to make it through the difficult subjects in High School, I get tears in my eyes. I could enumerate many more rewards, but space limits me. Parents shaking my hand with broad smiles but unable to speak my language except to say "Gracias"; 9th graders emailing me just to say "Hi" and that they miss me; students dropping by my room at all times of the day just to say, "Hola!" Little things like that speak volumes to me of the love my students and I share with each other, and that is the best reward any teacher can hope for.