Friends I will remember you~Part 9~Thank you Theresa Brown

Good evening friends and family from the "icebox" once again.  The cold north wind is blowing, rain is pelting down on the roof, and I'm inside dressed as if it is the middle of winter.  South central Kansas~May 1st, who would have thought we'd all be talking about snow on its way in the next 24 hours?  Sure as heck wasn't me.  I cannot remember one May 1st in all of my 57 years of being that I was dressed in "winter gear".  Good thing I hadn't already moved my winter coat with my other belongings to Mike's house in Montrose cause I sure did need it today. It was an "old person" thing but I got tired last night and went to bed before I could post the blog entry shown below.  But I'm going to post it tonight and as I read it...wow, what a difference 24 hours and 40 degrees makes.  From yesterday, April 30th of 2013.


Greetings everyone from south central Kansas where the temperature has been a wonderful 81 degrees today.  Everyone and their brother has been outside and after last week's combination of ice, snow, hail, freezing temperatures "episode",  it sure is nice to break out into a sweat once again.  All along the bike path this afternoon, I passed people walking, jogging, fishing in Cow Creek and riding bikes just like me.  Even though our activities were different, there was one thing we all had in common~the big smiles on our faces.  At least for  this day we can enjoy it.  This IS Kansas of course, and anything can happen and you can be assured that it almost always does.  Stay tuned for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday :)

I got a couple of emails last week that made me feel really happy to read.  They were from friends who decided that they too would like to develop and work on a bucket list of their own.  I was very happy for them and their quest to do those things that they might have considered putting off until tomorrow or next month or even next year.  They both had some ingenious ideas and perhaps as they do them and share them with me, I'll pass it along to you on this blog post.  I wish them well and encourage them to enjoy this life and to live each day as if could be their last one.  Having just said that, I might add another thought.  The term "bucket list" is generally thought of as things to do before a person should die, before their time comes to "kick the bucket".  Peggy Miller's bucket list is not a "death wish" but rather a wish for life and life to its fullest.  For all of the time in life that I have worried about things I had no control over anyway, for each precious moment of time that I have wasted trying to change situations that were really playing out in the way that they were supposed to, for every "could have", "should have", and "would have" that I have uttered along life's way, my determination and resolve to move forward now stands firm.  

I've been working on the last item on the list, "to find my Facebook friends and buy them something to drink and talk about life for a while" since 2011.  I'm not quite 2/3 of the way done.  Tonight, I'd like to share one of those folks with you.  As I end up the last year of 3 years "post retirement" of teaching, the Facebook friend shown below is the one that I give thanks to, for her part in my receiving the chance to teach a little bit longer.

Meet Theresa Brown, an elementary instructional specialist here in USD 308 in Hutchinson.  There are so many things to admire about this woman including her energy, her real and heartfelt love for children, her knowledge of such a variety of subjects relating to education, and perhaps the best of all~she makes one very good friend on Facebook and in the real world as well.  I cannot tell you the number of times she has answered questions for me (many of those that I thought were stupid).  Theresa gave absolute credibility to my concerns and if she didn't know the answer to my questions, she wouldn't stop until she found someone who did.  She helps EVERYONE is this district and she does so with a smile on her face and the sincere intention of doing what is the best for our "kids", the REAL people that all of us are here for anyway, the students of Hutchinson USD 308 public schools.  

When I retired from teaching the first time in May of 2010, I decided that I would go to work as a CNA.  I quickly found a job at our local hospital and started to work after a month's rest and vacation.  It didn't take me long to find out that working in a hospital setting wasn't the best "fit" for me.  But I was determined to stick it out, thinking that everything would work out sooner or later.  It didn't seem to get any better.  One day after a particularly hard day at work, I found a message on my cell phone from her.   It was a message that would change life for me, as I knew it at the time.  She said, "Peggy there is an opening for a Title I support teacher at Lincoln Elementary.  They need someone right away.  Would you be interested in it?"  It took me all of about 10 seconds to say "yes" to that idea and now, 3 years later as I retire for "good" from teaching, I am most grateful to Theresa for giving me the suggestion to come back to school once again.  The past 3 years have been memorable ones for me and the things that I learned and the good folks that I have had the opportunity to work with have turned out to be some of the greatest blessings that I've known as an educator.  Theresa Brown, I thank you dear friend for what you have done for me and for all of the other staff and students of USD 308, Hutchinson.  I owe you "one"  my friend.

Have a great evening every one.  Stay well and at peace with this life. You know, it's really a pretty good one after all.