~and it has always been worth it~

May 21st of 2010 I became a retired teacher after 32 years of service as an educator for the state of Kansas.  Retirement was fun while it lasted.  No wait a second, that's not right.  It was fun for about 2 weeks.  That's it.  14 days max.  I returned to the classroom in October that year and have been back at it ever since.  Thank goodness they let me come back.  I am not sure what I would have done with myself.

When the day comes, and I know that sooner than later it will, I'm afraid I am going to have a hard time with really retiring from teaching.  As the years have passed by since my original retirement date in May of 2010, I have realized just how fast the subsequent 7 years have flown by me.  Each year that has come and gone brings me closer to the time when I will finally find myself saying "It's enough."

 I wonder sometimes why I even retired in the first place after being a teacher only 32 years.  I was 54 and had taught my entire career in the same county in south central Kansas.  It had been a great time for me as an educator, learning from the best teachers that I ever had.

And those best teachers were the kids.

Often I have written of my students in this blog, mostly because they are a huge part of my life. Whenever I write of them, I usually always share it at school.  Just this past week I read one of my stories and is generally the case, when I come to an especially heart tugging spot they often see me pause and stop reading.  They know why I pause and so do I.

Sometimes I am lucky and can stifle back a tear or two. Other times I am not and it takes a while for me to get it together so I can finish.  More than once a tear has rolled down my face and if they could see inside of me, they would find my heart swollen beyond belief with love for them all.  I used to worry about crying in front of children, fearful of what they would think or what their parents would say.  I no longer fear that.  My students know me as their teacher and their teacher is a human being.

My life has revolved around children forever now.  Not only have I been blessed with classrooms in Kansas, I've also been privileged to teach 2 years in Colorado, a year in Texas, and am now finishing up my first year in Oklahoma.  My hope is to go one more year to attain my personal goal of 40 years as a teacher.  A friend asked me the other day why it was that I had taught in so many schools since I left Kansas.  I didn't really have a good answer for her at the time, but I do have one now.

I believe I was sent to every single school that I have had the privilege to teach in by a God who knew way more than I did about where I needed to be.  At times my journey would take me not only to a new classroom but a new state as well.   Sometimes my stay was not for long, but perhaps that is the way it was meant to be.

It hasn't always been easy.
It has always been worth it.

                               Retirement day~May of 2010
                               Hutchinson, Kansas