I want to share these posts with you, to help you consider what you are thankful for. Perhaps some are identical, perhaps some are analogous, perhaps some are completely foreign to you. But the thing that should stick with you is having an ATTITUDE of GRATITUDE, always. Just this one simple change in your life, on its own, can transform you.
Some of the details of these posts are rather personal; obviously, I'm not revealing anything i don't want to reveal. At this late stage, my life is an open book for reading and enhancement of others. But it also means there may be things which don't make sense because you don't know my background. Hopefully it will be clear enough in context, but leave a comment if there's something that's unclear, and I'll clarify. May God bless you in this season of thankfulness.
A month of thanks.
No different than any other month, except the thanks are also on this blog.
Nov 1. I thank God that I am one of His Elect. First and foremost,
I am thankful for my relationship with Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.
A
month of thanks. No different than any other month,
except the thanks are also
Nov 2. I am thankful for having Dana in my life. The fact that she loves me is more than
I can believe most days. I’m unable to drive any distance anymore, so she ends
up having to come see me most of the time, as I tremble in pain at the end of
each day. I don't know how she puts up with it. I’m so glad she wasn’t here last
night (or worse yet, that I wasn’t there) because I spent the whole night screaming in pain. As amazed as I
am at her love, I almost literally couldn’t do without her now. She is a
literal God-send, brought to me by a Lord Who knows that I need to submit to
His Will, and be willing to allow her to help me even when my stubbornness and
pride fight against it. She is the perfect partner at the perfect time of my
life, and I will never, never be able to thank her sufficiently for what she
means to me in these last years of my life.
A
month of thanks. No different than any other month,
except the thanks are also
Nov 3. I am thankful for this school district. The
Jerome school district (specifically Eric Anderson) graciously kept me employed
when I couldn’t keep stick-waving once I got sick, putting me in charge of the
alternative school (a much more sedentary job). But after two more years of
deterioration it was clear I couldn’t even handle that job any more on my own,
so rather than encourage me to retire, the district
(specifically Dale Layne) brought on an assistant, an amazing woman who
deserves a day of thanks all her own.
Now,
2 1/2 years of increasing pain and fatigue down the road, it’s time to throw in
the towel. But because the district was willing to let me start each year
despite the doubt over my ability to finish that year, I have the flexibility
to start looking into disability retirement mid-year, and the district
(specifically Gina Cakebread) is helping with the paperwork.
When I taught band, the district treated me like royalty. Once I
couldn’t do what I was hired for, they still treat me like royalty. And I am so
thankful to have this be my last stop in the field.
A
month of thanks. No different than any other month,
except the thanks are also
Nov 4. I am so thankful for Wendy Somerset, who Dale Layne called in to be my
assistant after I'd run the alternative school for two years. I was continuing
to deteriorate, and my superintendent realized I wouldn't make it through
another year of that alone.
What he probably didn't know was what an angel God was sending
me through him. She took as her professional mission the task of keeping me teaching for as long as she possibly could - and I
guarantee the last three years would have been literally impossible. She has
taken everything off my shoulders that she possibly could. There have been more
and more occasions when all I could do was sit in a chair while she did
virtually everything, and she does - and not only never complains, but
complains if I TRY to do something when I'm clearly not up to it. I walked in
Thursday, hobbling in pain, and she hollered, "What are you doing here? Go
home! I've got this." So I turned around and walked out the door
momentarily, freaking the students out as she explained to them why she was
playing mom.
Because
she's not only my teaching partner, she's my "den mom", my Christian
sister, my angel, my career support, and (except for Dana) my best friend. And
it broke her heart as much as mine when I had to call PERSI about retirement
paperwork.
A
month of thanks. No different than any other month,
except that it’s
Nov 5. I am thankful for my parents. My mother,
Dorothy Alice Smith, was an amazing woman. My father, Stanley Eugene Smith, was
a brilliant man. And as is the case with most children, I didn’t appreciate
them sufficiently when they were alive.
Mom died when I was 20; Dad, when I was 27. They never met
Wendy. They never met Dana. They never got to meet their grandchildren. They
did know Melissa, and my kids were always astounded
to hear stories of teenaged Gordon from her. But most of all, they got to see
their grandparents through someone else’s eyes besides mine.
Through
mine, what they see is love - respect - affection - hugs - wit - brilliance -
and the desire to help anyone, everyone who needed it. Above all, they were
teachers: not just professionally, but personally. It was a privilege to grow
up with them in my life.
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