#sol17 SOL Eve

I got up early on SOL Eve,

Just like I would do on 

Christmas Eve,

First Day of School Eve

First day of Vacation Eve.

There is a bit of excitement in the air,

That you can feel

When you know there is 

Potential for becoming

A writer amidst a community
Of wana-be, trying-to-be
Learning-to-be writers

Looking for and finding

Small, interesting moments.

I'm excited,
Scared,
Nervous,
Filled with butterflies,
Hoping to find
That writerly-perspective

That energy

That empowerment 
During this challenging
Month ahead. 

SOL17 Sunrise and sunsets

As I walked out of rehab, I saw the sun slip under the horizon, tired from its day's work. I was keenly aware of the way the sky came alive in the moments before the sun rested.  In my mind, the soundtrack from Fiddler on the Roof began to play.  The good-bye conversation with my aunt replayed as the soundtrack continued,  "This is hard, really, really hard," she said softly, "I am really tired  and I can't keep my eyes open.  I just want to shut my eyes."  As I watched the sun set, I thought about the collective centuries of happiness and tears the residents of the rehab, at my back, had known.   As I made my way back to the Parkway, my mind wandered to thoughts of my newborn grandson, a tiny miracle whose eyes are excited to be open as he takes on in his new world, a little more each day.

Sunrise sunset
Swiftly flow the days
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears

#sol2017 Do you remember me?

"Do you remember me," she asked softly, hopefully?

My mind became a tornado filled with images of classrooms, names of students, glimpses of graduate students, places I have taught.....I'm not good with names anyway and on this particular day I had been up since a 3 AM phone call; thus, I knew my chances of a name-recovery on the spur of the moment were unlikely!

I studied her face trying to get an age, stage of life, in order to time-date-stamp her into some part of that spinning tornado. I think I sighed, eyes wide open, hopeful she would volunteer something. "You were my sister's reading teacher," she said while I held my breath aware I was still engulfed within a name-retrieval-nightmare!  "I always wanted to be in your reading club," she smiled, "I didn't realize until many years later that it was for kids who had trouble reading!"

I smiled, thankful for the hint but worried I would not retrieve the name of a student's sister!  "I'm coming up blank," I started to say; however, as the words came out of my mouth, her "phone beeped" and she quickly turned towards the door.

 "I'm sure I'll see you again around here as people stay for a while," she said happily as she quickly left to respond to whatever was on the beeper,   I sighed as she left the room, the tornado still swarming in the name-retrieval-part of my brain.  I have some time but I am a long way from name-retrieval.

#celebratelu2017 More Small Miracles

I wrote about small miracles

Last week and

This week

There were more.

There were dire diagnoses

For a nonagenarian

Back to and then from

The big, bad medical center,

Yet, in spite of isolation,

In spite of the predictions,

She continues to fight

To get back home again.

There was an air-born branch

On a gusty afternoon

That hit my rental car

Causing some damage.

Yet, when I called,

Concerned, worried

About next steps,

They had a clear of a plan

To take care of it all.

There was a small miracle

Born to my son and his wife,

A baby brother to my 

First-born grandson.

With baby soft cheeks

A prefect nose,

Itsy-bitsy diapers,

Making tiny baby
 Gurgling sounds,

Wrapped like a burrito

Causing this Grammy 

To have a spring in her step

That belied the cold, winter day.

Who knew it was possible

To love your grandchildren

So very much?

Perhaps it is that

Grandchildren fill a space 

In your heart

You never knew was empty?  

Or perhaps a grandchild 

Causes your heart to

Grow a full size?

#sol2017 Hearts, Candy, Transformers and Reflection

"Mrs. Ferreri, Mrs. Ferreri," she panted with an urgency far exceeding the situation as she rushed into school for this Hearts and Candy infused day preceding the 100th Day of School!  I've got something for you she smiled as she fumbled in her bag.  Out came a tiny package of MMs, clearly marked with a phonetic approximation of my name, Misis faray.  I thanked her, grateful to work in an elementary school on this holiday where little Cupids all love one another and their teachers!  

"Look at the card I made for Mrs. Fsdfhsdkh," she continued as we went down the hall.  "Don't you think she will LOVE it?" she continued already knowing the answer!

As the day unfolded, there were a few more tiny packages of Skittles and mini Oreos as well as Pokeman, Barbie, and Transformer cards with lovely approximations of my name. There were also a few valentines from former students and students I had only met as we breezed through our Universal Screenings.

Definitely, love and kindness were in the air today, in the hallways, and on the playgrounds.  There was even a sense of kindness as we herded those children onto the buses at the end of the day in an unusual dismissal pattern to deal with the smoky transformer outside of school! 

As I drove away at the end of the day, I thought about how those tiny acts of kindness helped me through a stressful day filled with not-so-good-news-calls from doctors, nurses and caregivers.  As I drove to meet my graduate students on this Hearts and Flowers filled day for some of them which is just days away from their winter recess, I thought about how I might help them deal with their stresses today!  So, I stopped at CVS and got the last bag of candy hearts in the store!  It's not much of a consolation when you have to go to class on this night of flowers and fancy dinner.  Yet, I hope it helps!

  

#Celebratelu17 Small Miracles

This week, I'm linking to
Ruth Ayers Celebrate This Week
 To remember
Small miracles.

Waking up from surgery
After a week in-between
Living and leaving.
Accepting the re-hab challenges
The scary Hoya Lift
Wrapping our heads
Around the long road ahead.

Flat tires that hold air

Just long enough
Till you get over the bridge.
AAA mechanics that appear
Like flannel-clad-angels
On cold winter nights.

Donut-sized spares

That against-all-odds
Traverse snow-packed roads.

Snow day calls, messages,
Time to talk to friends
Finish that quilt,
Watch Hallmark Movies.

A tiny brand-new miracle
Poised to arrive
Ready to be wrapped
In his father's arms
Around his mother's heart
In kisses from his brother
And
In that brand new quilt
From his Grammy.

Reading in Kindergarten

I know there are some who feel that we "push down" the curriculum....thus, it is more importnat than ever that ALL os us clearly articulate what is expected!

https://www.education.com/magazine/article/Whats_Happening_Kinder_Reading_Sept_to_Dec/