And then there were four...

Four of the six Creative Writing students have their blogs up and operating. They are listed in my links section: The life of a musician (my niece), God is my Strength, Ms. Classy, and Noemy's Blog. Two more to go.

I received word this afternoon that the man who gave me my first teaching job passed away Friday night. I immediately felt a sadness that continued to haunt me the rest of the day. Wes Shultz was an amazing man. He was strong and disciplined and tough...but fair. He empowered me to take charge of my classroom and do what I love to do: teach...and have fun doing it.

My interview took place in Logan Airport one afternoon after I had finished work at New England Memorial Hospital. My mother, sister Martha and I drove to Logan after work one day in August. To this day, I can remember what I was wearing...shoes and all!!! Wes was on a 2-hour layover between Detroit and Atlanta...he was going to Georgia to buy carpet for classrooms...and I remember him coming off the plane (I remember what he was wearing too!) and striding over to Martha, who was perched on a railing in the waiting area, and putting out his hand to her saying "I'm Wes Shultz, are you Rondi?" We laughed about it later, wondering why he thought someone waiting for an interview would be so casual, but at the moment, I was too nervous to think. He and I walked around the airport talking teaching philosophy and by the time we returned to my mother, he had hired me. Within weeks, I was in Michigan, getting ready for an experience that changed my life, turned it inside out and upside down, and helped make me who I am today. I will miss knowing he is somewhere in this world, challenging someone else to take charge of their life.

The pictures here are of the flowering trees around school that were so beautiful a week ago and are now beaten to the ground by all this rain =(