The Accident That Changed Everything About three months after I graduated from high school in 1978, I suffered a very serious accident in the home where I grew up. My brother had dashed into the garage, pushing the kitchen door open as far as it would go. That door, with its heavy spring closer, was…

Thirty years of teaching taught me that shame doesn’t fade easily. Hardworking kids absorbed correction like wounds, while others brushed it off without a thought. Years later, I realized I was living out that same pattern myself, carrying old mistakes long after everyone else had forgotten them.

I spent years chasing the next season—summer break, holidays, even retirement—as if joy was always waiting just around the corner. Too often, those moments fell short of the anticipation. With time, I’ve learned the best days aren’t out ahead. Joy shows up in the ones we’re already living.

In a neighborhood of big houses, our modest starter home became the gathering spot for our boys’ friends. Maybe it wasn’t the square footage, but the warmth. Contentment isn’t in extravagance—it’s found in the quiet places that feel like home.

I remember the teachers who acted more like prison guards than guides—brash, strict, and distant. I never felt a connection with them; trying would have been like grabbing a live wire. And after a long career in teaching, I know how quickly the work turns to drudgery when the relationship is missing. Do you remember…

In 1979, I was caught in a flood that forced me to abandon my car and wade through the dark toward safety. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the confusion and fear of that night would echo decades later in the classroom. Teaching through the pandemic carried the same weight—sudden changes, no clear…

I taught through the biggest disruption most of us have ever seen. What finally made sense wasn’t the screen time or the tech—we were just trying to be present with kids who needed something steady. Now I know it wasn’t about keeping up with the chaos—it was about holding on to whatever sense of classroom…

Teaching was never a smooth ride. Some days climbed with promise, others dropped without warning, and the turns came faster than I could prepare for. Lookin g back now, it wasn’t the chaos that defined the journey—it was how much I carried away from it. And what I recognized about teaching has turned out to…