Dear Barely Hanging on Teacher,
They say there is no tired like end of the year teacher tired. True statement.
Then you throw in the fact that teachers were exhausted before they even started…well…let’s just say it’s been a long year.
When I was a little girl, I had a pair of jelly shoes. It was the 80s. I wore them to the creek. A girl likes to look good no matter the age or location.
I loved those shoes. Still do.
I strutted around that creek bank like I was Queen of the Nile, that was until the swift current upended me and the rapids stole my prized shoe like the cruel stroke of midnight.
I screamed in terror. My dad took off in a heavy sprint to capture the runaway jelly slipper.
I had never, nor have I since, seen my dad run that fast.
I like to think he was securing his eternal place in my heart as my immortal knight in shining armor, but I think the truth is he didn’t have the stamina to deal with an inconsolable seven year old the whole ride home. Like I said, I loved those shoes.
Either way, when he dove in those treacherous waters and came up with that iridescent treasure, it was maybe the happiest day of my life prior to marrying my real-life prince charming.
In relating this memorable childhood event to the year from…Well…I can’t tell if the teacher is childhood me or the shoe, but I know both are barely hanging on in a swift emotional and physical current.
There are only a few days left of the year, and once again, I feel like the seven year old holding her breath to see if the shoe is salvaged.
I sure hope some teachers get their shiny shoes back next year because life's too short to not have cute shoes. It's even harder when you have a lot of ground to cover.
Nobody can hike that path with only one shoe, not even the teacher who lies by saying she is fine when colleagues ask,
"You doing okay? You hanging in there?
-CDB