As life goes on and on and on~

Hello everyone~it's been such a beautiful day here in south central Kansas, warm temperatures, a bit of a breeze, an exceptionally nice looking sky.  I just came in from the backyard where my 24-year old son Grahame is working up his garden.  He's put a lot of hard effort into it, his first one ever. What a joy it has been to see him out there playing in the soil just like his mother loves to do and his grandmother did before him.  When I went out after school today, I saw a huge mound of dirt that Grahame had dug out for yet another planting bed.  I half-jokingly, half-seriously asked him, "Son, are you trying to find a way to China? If so, there is a much easier method."  He only grinned at me.

 Grahame prefers to dig everything by hand even though a tiller is available for his use.  When I foolishly asked him why he was doing it the "hard way", that 6-foot tall and long legged boy of mine gave the answer~"Take your shoes off Mom and come step in it with me."  He needn't have had to ask me twice!  Didn't take long to get my 57-year old feet naked and as I ventured into the cool and moist earth, I knew exactly why he was doing it the way he was.  That freshly hand-turned dirt was like medicine for a tired soul and sinking spirit.  Grahame had found that out and since it's not a 20-acre patch of ground, only a backyard garden, he will more than likely never turn a tiller on again.  I like that boy~he has a little of me, a bit of his Grandma Scott, and still another piece of his Grandpa Hemman in him.  He will turn out to be a fine gardener, I am most positive.

This week has flown quickly by and I am daily reminded of the many changes that await my life in the days that lie ahead.  Between finishing school, getting married, and moving away to a new home in Colorado all in the course of yet another week, I've been burning the "midnight oil" more than ever.  I have surely been blessed in so many ways with dear friends and family here in Kansas and beyond that have provided so much help in getting things ready for the day that lies ahead next week.  Just like the time when "old lefty" was so badly hurt, my "school family" and many other friends out there have stepped in and helped to lighten my load as I try to get things ready for our wedding coming up on Tuesday.  Between baking cookies, helping with the decorating, providing moral support, offering to lend a hand in what ever way was needed including volunteering to help with the kids that afternoon, the load has become much lighter for me.  Not sure how I would have figured to get everything done in a timely fashion without their kind assistance.  To them, I am beholden. Once again I have witnessed what friends do for one another and they do it every day for no other reason, for no other gain, than this~They do it because it is the right thing to do for one another.  I thank God for those folks in my life every day and I always pray to be able to do for them somehow what they have unceasingly done for me.  You know it's difficult to type these words with eyes filled with tears and a lump in my throat.

With only 4 days left of school, precious few hours to make connections with the kids at Lincoln, I am trying to use every moment I can to "touch base" with each of them.  I want them to know how much I love them and truly how much I believe in them.  My desire, my greatest wish for all them is that they would grow up to be healthy and productive citizens.  The wonderful thing about teaching at Lincoln is that I not only speak for myself here but I speak as well for the many other great people on the staff there with me.  Those over 200 kids have a LOT of people who love them and very unconditionally, I might add.  Their paths will each be different and I know the road to the future is going to be rough and very difficult for them to travel.  There are a lot of "strikes" against children these days but when I stop to think about it, there hasn't been a generation of people who have not had challenges to overcome.  My generation, your generation~some how we made it and more than likely this current one will make it as well.  Even though I won't be with them next year, I will anxiously wait to hear how things go for them.  I suppose it IS true~once a teacher, always a teacher.

It's now the early morning hours on Thursday.  I fell asleep last evening as I was typing this.  Not a pretty sight I'm sure~just laid my head down on the table to rest my eyes a bit...ok, ok, ok, it was REALLY because if I didn't lay my head down I would have fallen off my chair being sound asleep sitting straight up.  45 minutes, a very stiff neck, and the most interesting and intriguing imprint of my tablecloth across my face later, I woke up!  Yesterday when I told Mike that the first thing I was going to do when we made it to Colorado was to sleep for a day or two, I was only kind of kidding.  Might want to have to do it for real now, you know?

Time to get going and start yet another day.  Life has gone on and on and perpetually on this week.  With thankfulness, I'm glad that God saw fit that I should be a part of it and if you are reading this today, then you have been chosen to be a part of it as well.  Not quite sure where our paths will all cross again in the future but somehow I feel they will.  In the meantime, how grateful I am to have known you and to have shared this life with you.  

Have a great Thursday everyone~this is the 16th day of May, 2013.  When it is done and we lay our heads on our pillows the night upcoming, it will have been the greatest of days to have been alive in.  I'm gonna do what the "Good Book" asks of us~I choose to rejoice and be very glad in it.  May you as well :)

Every time I see this photo, taken now 2 years ago, I just have to laugh.  We were four crazy women that day who were having the time of our lives laughing and carrying on as if we were in high school again.  Toni, Annetta, and Joyce~Even if I am 600 miles away, I will meet you sometime back there on that corner in the little town we grew up in.  I can never forget where I came from~it will always be a part of me.  Surely thankful to have grown up with "kids" just like you guys.