They
They don’t tell you when it’s coming.
They don’t even give you warning.
One day you’re sitting and chatting with a friend, and the next day they’re gone.
Where did they go?
They’ve moved on, out, or to another plane of existence.
And it may be happening again.
****
Tim was a good teacher. He’d come to it late, one of those people who decided to give teaching a shot after 20 years of managing crappy restaurants. 20 years of crappy restaurant food can do a lot of bad things to your body. He had diabetes, which started to affect his eyes. He never complained, and he was always ready to go. He’d decided that dealing with unmotivated 19 year olds day in and day out was no way to live a life. So Tim went back to school, and started teaching. He taught for two years. He was the first teacher at Dr. Howard to offer help, and he was always quick with a smile, and an email forward. Five years later, I still have some of his forwards.
During winter break of 2000, Tim and I went to dinner; my first time to Texas Roadhouse. He was a secret shopper, so he always gift certificates for restaurants. He paid for dinner. A few days later, Tim went in for surgery to have work done on his eyes. During the operation, he went into cardiac arrest. He never came out.
I didn’t get to know him as well as I would have liked. Even so, there are days that I miss him.
*****
Greg was another great person. It’s been over a year, and everyone that knew him still misses him. He was always so positive, so friendly, up for anything. He’d come out with us on some Thursday nights, and played poker whenever he could. He was fun, and fit into any group. Sometimes you read tributes and think, “Everyone always says nice things about people about them after they’re gone,” but with Greg, we knew it was true before he was gone. He was killed by a driver high on narcotics, driving a car that didn’t have any breaks. Greg was 23. Again, I was just starting to get to know him, and then he was gone.
****
And now.
We have a teacher at our school who has been sick for a few years. This year she was able to start the year back in the classroom, but we could tell that she wasn’t her “normal” self. By all accounts from the veteran teachers in the building, she is a tremendous asset. My few interactions with her have been positive. Everything she has gone through, and she wants to take the time to get to know me. The first time I met her was last year at the Holiday Party. She was wearing a wig, and was happy to strike up a conversation with me. A few months before this, we had raised $18,000 last year during a silent auction (in one night!) on her behalf, such is her popularity to the commmunity (not to mention a tribute to her as a teacher). This year she’s taken over the enrichment program, and has the students working and learning about tremendous things. Two weeks ago, she started a new treatment. She’s now sick again, and I fear (and because I can’t go into it on a public forum) that she is not doing well. I feel so much frustration because there’s nothing I can do. I pray, I talk with colleagues, but I feel like an outsider looking in. Again. I don’t know her well enough to call a friend, but I know that if we were given the chance, we would be.
Where does it leave us?
It leaves us hoping that she will come out of it…
It leaves us hoping that prayers make a difference…
It leaves us hoping that this time, I will get to know this person, who is an example of what a good person is, and that she will NOT become one of them.
Not yet. Not again.
RSS Trackback URL 20. October 2005 (07:01)Filed under: General, Unfortunately Serious