Making It All Worthwhile

 Sometimes Roy and I play a game: What was the best thing about your day? What was the worst thing about your day...

And so, in the evenings as the hours wane, darkness hovers, I often reflect on my day: what was good? what was difficult? I figure I should stop for at least a moment as soon the day will be done, and only a vague recollection will remain...if that.

It amazes me sometimes - this thing called time - and how it just keeps rolling like the waves of the ocean...on and on and on...Each day offering up its own gift to be treasured and yet, more often that not...forgotten. My word - I struggle to remember what I ate for dinner the night before. And unless something major happens (please God...no), I most likely won't remember much about it - other than it was a date on the calendar, a blip in my own personal history...

I actually have a 5 year journal that I started 3 1/2 years ago, and I love it. I remember things now simply because I wrote them down and had I not, they would have gone by the wayside like most days of my life: forgotten. It amazes me as I read over the entries from the year or two past: Hey, Roy - a year ago today is when we had that huge ice storm! Or Two years ago today Jacque came to visit!...or whatever the case may be. 

Anyway, all to say I'm grateful that I discovered this Five Year Journal gig as it has helped us chronicle our lives and remember things we may have otherwise forgotten. My only regret is that I didn't start it sooner. How fun would it be to look back to our first year of marriage and see what we did on February 20, 1988! But...I didn't. And so here we are....

Anyway, I digress...

So the low point of my day? Honestly? Walking out the door this morning and heading for work. I have spent the past four days playing "Nurse" to Roy since his foot surgery on Thursday, a major undertaking that left him utterly immobile and in pain. Leaving him today left me feeling disconcerted: How will he get breakfast for himself? Who is going to hand him his crutches and stack the pillows underneath his foot?

But, I needn't have worried. He survived just fine - mainly from the mattress of our bed as surgery has left him exhausted.

And the high point of my day? That may take a bit of explaining...

My 8th period class - the last class of the day - defines apathetic and worn out. They drag themselves into my classroom, feet shuffling, eyes staring wearily at the ground. If I ask a question, I am met with dead silence, indifferent eyes. Of all of my classes, they are the most difficult to engage. And so a few weeks ago I decided it was time to make a change, infuse some energy into the atmosphere of Room 307 at Grandview High.

And so, I began to greet them with excitement. I'm not exactly a comedian but I strove to add humor wherever possible, and when time provided some random space, I filled it with meaningful questions that require thought, discussion - questions that actually interested them.

And it worked! I've watched them wake up just a tad bit. Now don't get me wrong - they are definitely not setting the world on fire. But the air is no longer dead weight from 3:00 - 3:40 pm. Once in awhile they actually smile. It no longer feels like drudgery.

And so after the bell rang today and I greeted them from the front of my room, I said - It's so good to see you all! We've survived Monday, right? Only 40 more minutes and we are done! We've got this!

One of my kids laughed and said, "We've missed you, Mrs. Seals."

And that singular moment in time? Well. I just stood there. Savored it. 

That singular moment made it all worthwhile.