First Day Like No Other

Beautiful Life

With each passing summer season comes a new school year- my babies getting older and moving to the next grade, excitement for what the school year will hold in its new beginning, a new crop of third graders who teach me just as many lessons as I teach them.

Perhaps the first lesson I needed to learn this year was to not be all consumed. As this is my eleventh year, I have struggled with this year after year. I do believe the stereotype of an old maid teacher is accurate. Teachers who put their hearts and souls into their students can lose themselves in the endless tasks of each day. There is always more you want to do and more that needs to be done. My personal children have helped me to distinguish between tasks that are necessary and those that I can put on the shelf for another time.

This year amidst the busyness of the beginning, my life outside of teaching took the first place seat. I had to say goodbye to my Grandmama. And although I had the whole summer to prepare for the moment, I found myself unprepared- like someone who left the house without an umbrella on the rainiest of days. Sorrows like sea billows rolled up inside of me whenever anyone spoke to me about losing her.

On the very first day of the new school year, I was only there for the first half of the day. Something, before now, that was unthinkable. The first day of school is just as much a milestone for the teacher as it is for the students. You have to welcome them in, remember how to operate the machine known as the classroom again, and get them all home safely. Not typically a daunting task, but on the first day, it is all about the basics. Instead of fretting over these small but huge details, I had to totally change gears. The rest of the day was spent honoring my Granny and the love she instilled in us by her daily devotion to her family -perhaps the Godliest person I will ever know. What a legacy she leaves behind- one that will continue to reveal itself to me as I am reminded of the lessons I learned from her and as I aspire to be the same kind of woman she was.

Cam - First Day of 1st Grade

I told many people who came to pay their respects: If I could hear her now, she would be saying, "I am sorry for doing this on your first week of school, Sugar. You don't have to leave those children to come to my funeral." She always put others' needs above her own. And as inconvenient as it was in the life of a teacher, all of my students made it home safely on the first day, and all those extra little things I would have been working on so diligently really weren't necessary after all.

Maeve- First Day of Preschool 3Day3s

Granny, please continue to help me remember the only thing that should ever be all-consuming is my relationship with my Savior. Thank you for putting my priorities in line for this school year and for making it a first day like no other.