I'm Back! Back to my Blog Part 2 or 3. . .

Hello, friends!!! 

    I began this blog in 2008. It was an assignment in my classes in London and after it was no longer an assignment,  I  just kept doing it for a while.   I like it.  I just ramble on and on and usually, people think it's funny. I'm not sure I ever MEAN to be funny, but I do weird things, therefore weird things happen to me. For whatever reason, I'm not afraid to tell people what kind of dumb things I do. 

    I don't think I've posted since Covid. What have I been doing since that time? Working, living my little life as best I can. Since then, I've bought a house, gained a roommate, been to Israel twice, Egypt once, lost weight, gained weight, bought a new car, had a devastating car wreck, made some friends, lost some friends, had a job I loved, lost a job I loved.  Oh wait, we aren't ready for that post yet. You know, just doing all the stuff. 

    So if you're new here, let me introduce myself. I just finished year 30 in public education, in good ole Polk County, Florida. I could retire, but I enjoy things like electricity, my house, and food so I have to keep working. Besides, I'm not done yet - at least that's what I tell myself. Yes, I put double spaces after periods when I type because that's what I learned in typing class. I'm not married, have three cats who live in our house (more about them later) and my niece shares this house. She's a teacher too, and we work 5 miles away from each other. I tell people I spend my life surrounded by other people's children and that's absolutely correct. I work in a school and work with children at my church. 

    The title of this blog came from our orientation lesson at the FSU Study Centre in London in 2008. There are hallways underground and if you live in some flats, you have to use them after a certain time of the day. They are basically tunnels, although they have lights, carpets, and walls. Apparently, people complain about them. We were told that during World War II, people used them to hide while London was being bombed by the Nazis. Someone said, "When you are walking in them, at least you're not being bombed by the Nazis." It stuck with me. Sometimes in this blog I complain and whine about stuff that I don't like BUT, it could always be worse. We could be hiding in tunnels while people drop bombs on us. 

So what will I write about? Whatever I want to. 
Will you always agree with me? Probably not. 
Will I tell you things you don't know? Maybe. 
Will I share WAY too much about my life with you? Most definitely. 
Do you have to like what I say? Absolutely not. 
Will I be honest? Yes. 

So, if you've been here before, welcome back. If you're new here, welcome to my life. And hey, at least we're not being bombed by the Nazis.

Picture it: Sicily, 2001

Okay, it really wasn’t Sicily.  I love the Golden Girls and if you do too, you get that. . . If not, you need to watch it.
Auburndale May 21, 1991. . . It’s a Monday. Friday was the last day of school for students, but teachers got 3 workdays after that. I know – that was the good ole’ days.  My sister Patti and I were here in Auburndale working, but the rest of our family, our parents, our sister and our nephews had left on Saturday for a week’s vacation in the Keys.  Robyn had rented a great house on Marathon and they were having a great time.   I’m at my Mom and Dad’s house with Patti and the phone rings.  Patti answers it, sort of whimpers, and drops the phone. I pick it up and hear “Your Mom’s had an accident.  Your Dad wants you there as fast as you can.  Meet Dave Norris at the Winter Haven airport as soon as you can and he’ll get you there.” 
Daddy’s friend Dave Norris had a small plane. We gathered up some stuff, passed my niece off to family, and went to the airport.  It was a long, hot flight. There was lightning he had to change direction several times to avoid it.  When we landed, he said something like "I don't usually fly in weather like that." We landed at the Marathon airport and Daddy picked us up.  He took Dave Norris back to the house and took us to Fisherman's Hospital. 
He left us at the hospital with Robyn and she told us what happened.  On Monday, they went to Bahia Honda State Park, my Mom’s favorite place maybe in the world.  When they came out of the water, our mom sort of collapsed.  My nephew and our dad pulled her out of the water and Robyn started CPR.  A guy in a kayak called 911 and helped Robyn with CPR.  To get there, you have to cross the 7 Mile Bridge and climb over a ridge on the island to get to where they were.  It took a little while. Robyn and Kayak Guy did CPR the whole time until the ambulance got there.  The ambulance took Mama and Daddy, while Robyn collected her boys and all the stuff.  All that happened without us. 
When we got there, it was late Monday night or early Tuesday morning, and she was completely unresponsive and hooked up to life support.
I think my mom knew she was going to die young. She told us for years multiple things about her funeral. She wanted our friend Mrs. Rita to sing, and she wanted the Hallelujah Chorus played at the end.  She also told us over and over again that she NEVER wanted to be kept alive by machines. We asked why she was on life support. They told us they had to for a certain amount of time.
On Tuesday, our Granny and our mama’s sisters got there. Our Aunt Cecelia stayed for a while alone. She told us later that the doctor came in while she was there and she asked why her sister was hooked up to those machines – that she didn’t want that. (See, everybody knew that!)  He told her that whoever did CPR on her did a really, really good job, so good in fact that her heart was still beating too much on its own for him to let her go. Tuesday night, some ladies from Calvary Baptist Church came in to see us. That is the church that we go to when we are in the Keys. They had heard about what happened and came to see what they could do for us.  That is why I still keep my eye on that church. Those people didn’t know us from anyone, but they came to check on us.
We were told that the doctor would come to see us on Wednesday morning and we would have to tell him to turn off her machines. We knew what we had to tell him. we knew what she wanted. We have no regrets or remorse about that. but it wasn’t easy. 
Early Wednesday morning, we looked in the hallway and saw some of our longest family friends coming down the hallway.  Mrs. Rita and Bro Frank Newberry and Bro Jim Elliot drove from Lakeland to be there with us. We told the doctor what he needed to hear and he told us what would happen.  We stood around her bed, our friends prayed for us, we cried a lot,  and we left the room. We went back to the great house Robyn rented, packed everything up, and drove home. It was a long ride. The most frustrating thing was the whole world was going on as normal, but ours would never be normal again.

Those are the facts. There are some things I know and things I don't know. I don't know if my mom went to Jesus on Monday, May 21, or on Wednesday, May 23. I know what the paperwork says, but I don’t know the real answer.  I KNOW she was stubborn ( I get that honestly!)   I think it was time for her to go and she didn’t want to. Did she argue with God a little.? Did she tell Him that we still needed her? Did she tell Him we all needed to be together before she could leave?  I don’t know.
Here’s another thing I don’t know:    the man in the kayak who helped Robyn do CPR?  No one else ever saw him.  No one else remembers him.
I know this:  the staff at Fisherman’s Hospital in Marathon were the kindest, sweetest people ever. They never said a word about how many of us were there, never gave us grief about setting us shop in the waiting room or taking up the phones.  They just walked around us. 
I also know this:  May 21 is the beginning of a sad set of days for my family.  I try really hard to think of good things.  My Mom’s last place was her favorite place.  Have you ever been to Bahia Honda State Park?  It’s one of God’s greatest gifts to us.  My parent’s first date was at the beach. Their last date was to the beach.  In August of 2001, they would have been married 40  years. There’s a butterfly garden now pretty close to the place where they brought her out of the water. She would have liked that. 

We had her funeral on Memorial Day.  Our church was FULL of people.  So, so many people gave up their holiday for us that year.  It was overwhelming.  Our friend Mrs. Rita sang.  Coach Stacy,  who sang at our Mom and Dad's wedding sang at her funeral.  And yes, we played the Hallelujah Chorus at the end.
So tomorrow May 21, I’m working at home. I might stay in my pajamas. I might eat ice cream. I might cry.  I might cry on Saturday, May 23.  I might stay in my pajamas. I won’t cry for my mama. I’ll cry for me. I'll cry because 19  years without my Mama is a long time.  I’ll cry for what she’s missed.  I’ll cry that Ken and Josh and Makiah didn’t get her long enough.  I’ll cry that we never got to celebrate that 40th anniversary or a 50th anniversary.  But even while I cry, I know that I don’t cry as those who have no hope.   
I can cry with hope. I can say goodbye with hope. Cause I know our goodbye is not the end and one day, she’ll look at me and say “there you are.  I’ve been waiting for you.”

The Digital Divide is Alive and Well

When I was working on my master’s degree, we learned the term “Digital Divide.”  I didn’t know what it was at first, but it was one of those AHA moments.  One of the pictures in an article I read that has always stayed in my mind was a high school-aged girl sitting by a parked school bus in the dark, with her textbook and her laptop on her lap. She was sitting in a circle of light from a streetlight, all alone, trying to do her work. It was gut-wrenching. According to Stanford University, the digital divide 

“ refers to the growing gap between the underprivileged members of society, especially the poor, rural, elderly, and handicapped portion of the population who do not have access to computers or the internet” and those who do. 

I instantly understood the term, because of my own upbringing.   When I was little, we did not have a tv. I’m not sure why my parents chose not to have a television in our home, but we didn’t.  In school, it was always weird when everybody talked about what they watched on TV and we didn’t see it.  Once, my parents had to go to school and talk to my sister’s teacher because she was supposed to watch something between cartoons every Saturday and she couldn’t do that.  (It may have been “In the News” you can watch it here:  https://youtu.be/Y2niAlg4WOc)

It was embarrassing. It wasn't comfortable. It was hard to say in front of your whole class “We don’t have a TV.”  My parents made sure that we had all that we needed – they always found money for Scholastic book orders, although I’m not sure how.   We listened to records, we always had books, but we were not a technology-rich house. We never had an Atari and never had cable until we moved to Clewiston in 1985. When everybody else wanted their MTV, I didn’t even hardly know what MTV was.

Now, there are students who have TV’s in every room and 187 cable channels, but still may not have an educationally technologically rich home.  I have said for years that there are children in our county who are technologically poor – and no one listens. The last time I was on a textbook selection committee, I had data that showed nearly 85% of the students at my school did not have consistent internet access and a device on which to access the internet. Some had limited internet access – until the data on the phone ran out. That was several years ago, but is it any better now? Are there still students in our schools that do not have access to computers or the internet at home? Absolutely. Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to get people who work in a building with Wi-Fi, and walk to a car with Wi-Fi, (where their smartphone connects to the car) and go home to a house with Wi-Fi to understand and/or believe that everyone doesn’t live like that. 

But enter COVID-19, aka Corona Virus aka “the Rona.”  All of a sudden, we need children to have devices at home to complete work.  But hardly anyone says, “Oh wait, a device by itself doesn’t help.”  I can deploy laptops all day long – a device all alone isn’t the answer. There is a bigger issue here. 

As a single woman with one income, a significant part of my budget is internet access. That is a conscious decision and choice that I make. Unfortunately, some parents don’t see the need or maybe absolutely cannot afford that same choice I make. Yes, I understand there are programs to help, but is it enough? I don’t know. 

I was very excited (and got very emotional) to see these posts from two churches:
 

ATTENTION PARENTS AND STUDENTS: New Home has been set up as a public Wi-Fi hotspot for students. If you do not have Wi-Fi access at home, you can park in our parking lot on the LEFT side of the church and access the FREE Wi-Fi. The network is "NHBC_WiFi_OPEN_ACCESS" and will be available from 7:00 AM - 7:00 PM. According to county and state orders, you will need to remain in your vehicles while doing your schoolwork. You are in our prayers as you complete this school year. Our address is 5130 Elmore Road (Hwy 14), Wetumpka.  (That's my friend's church!)  

Churches are trying to help bridge the digital divide, which is ironic since we keep church and school very, very separate. But it seems like churches are stepping up to help more than some school districts are.

I don’t know the answer. I know every time I put books in my public library’s dropbox, there’s someone sitting there in the dark, connected to the library’s network. I know my county is working on wifi on buses to park in neighborhoods.  But I know there are kids at my school who feel like I did when I was a little girl, but instead of not having a TV, they don’t have a computer, or they don’t have internet access. And they are missing out and are getting more and more behind. Unfortunately, it took a virus to make some people realize this. 

This Stinks, but I’m Learning Stuff

So as anybody who doesn't live under a rock knows, everybody got sent home from school.  this is NOT our Spring Break in Polk County – that is next week, but because of the stupid Corona Virus, we are all home.   I”m calling this “Corona Virtus Spring Break” henceforth abbreviated "CVSB Day ___.” 
I’ve spent a LOT of time with my own self for company and we’re only on Day 3. I'm learning a LOT of things about myself.  So of course, I had to write about it.  So here, we go: the things I’ve learned.
1) I really, really detest yard work.  A few weeks ago, my landlady came to bring me aa new fire extinguisher and said I needed to pull some stuff out of the little rectangle in front of my house.  I knew I needed to work on it, but I don’t like it.  I pay someone to mow my yard but he “mows, blows and edges.”  He doesn’t pull weeds or trim trees.  So when that needs to be done, it’s on me and I don’t like it at all. I don’t like to be dirty, I don't like to be sweaty and I don’t like it when bugs fly up my nose or down my shirt. I did it, but I don’t like it.
2)  What I read, what I watch and what I listen to have a huge impact on my mental state.  If  I listen to uplifting things and read unplaiting things and watch uplifting things I feel better.  If I watch or read or listen to other things, I find it easier to be angry or irritated or frustrated.
3) I always felt like wireless earbuds were unnecessary.  Today the wires on the pair I have got caught multiple times while I was doing the dreaded yard work,  I pulled them with the hedge trimmers, pulled them with the loppers and pulled them when I threw the cut stuff by the side of the road.  Every time, they pulled out of my ears. Now, my ears hurt, from the snatching out part!  And I may have put dirt in my ears from putting them back in.
4) On an iPhone, if you’re listening to music and want to go forwards or backwards, but you’re wearing gloves, you can push the arrow with your nose.
5) I have a lot of words inside of me and staying by myself doesn't let them out.  today I started reading text messages in other people’s voices.  It didn't work  very  well. I laughed at myself a LOT.
6)  I miss people.  I have hermit-like tendencies and am generally quite happy on my own but this could turn into not good. 
7)  I miss my church.  We are streaming our church services, but it’s NOT THE SAME.  I miss seeing people and talking to people and listening to my Sunday School class laugh and talk,.  I miss my Junior Church babies and my  AWANA babies. 
8.  I have two nests in trees in my yard.  I watched a squirrel either feed babies or repair a nest for about 30 minutes today. 
9) Isolated, alone Amazon shopping can be dangerous.  I hesitate to even see what starts arriving at my house. 
10) Counting your toilet paper rolls over and over again doesn’t change how much you have. 
11.)  This too shall pass. . . I don’t know when, I don’t know how long, but it will pass.  I just hope I remember to be grateful when things are “normal” again. 

My 2 Cents, Part 2 - Unintended Consequences

So, last week was a rough week for teachers, especially those of us in Polk county. I decided to use this little blog of mine to help you understand some of the feelings that have been running through my head for the last week and to explain my perspective on some things. The opinions expressed here are absolutely positively MINE and if you don’t agree, well, that’s OK too. You are certainly entitled to be wrong! 😉 
sometimes things happen that no one intended.  In social studies, this is called “Unintended Consequences.’  According to Wikipedia,  these are “outcomes of a purposeful action that are not intended or foreseen.”  I think there were quite a few unintended consequences of some actions last week.  Will these turn out to be good or bad? We’ll have to wait and see.

Last week we got two robocalls from the Polk County School Board telling us that no matter how many teachers chose to attend the education rally in Tallahassee “school would continue as usual.”  I think the intended outcome was to reassure parents that their students would still be taught.   But, I think there were serious UNINTENDED outcomes.  First of all, the more you tell people basically, that you don’t need them, the more they may want to prove to you that you do.  We have been told that the numbers of staff members who took the personal day doubled and then tripled before Friday. Maybe if we hadn’t been told that our county really didn’t need us, so many people might not have decided “Well, prove it.”  BTW, anytime a student has a substitute teacher, it’s not a “normal school day.” 
I think another intended outcome of the robocalls was to try to get parents annoyed with teachers and to make staff who chose to take their personal day look bad.  No one will say that, but I feel like it was.  However, the unintended outcome was to make the School Board look bad for ignoring the rally, and TRYING to make staff look bad. Additionally, many, many parents kept their students home from school on Monday, which certainly made it easier for schools to continue with fewer staff.  If a school had half of its students out on Monday, it certainly explains why it was such a great day on Monday. 

The email that we got from the Department of Education, was intended to “inform teachers of the possible consequences of their actions” and “sent in the spirit of transparency. I think another intended outcome was to “scare” people into going to work, because contrary to whatever our robocalls actually said, school could NOT have continued with all of the people absent.  In this respect, it worked, Many, many people did cancel their personal leave and return to school. The unintended outcomes are ENORMOUS.  This “threatening to fire teachers” thing went viral. Forbes.com posted it.  Elizabeth Warren commented on it.  Monday in Tallahassee, EVERYONE there knew that we were threatened with being fired.  Parents, teachers, people all over the nation are angry. People in our county are angry. There is a petition asking for our superintended to be fired that has gathered over 5000 signatures. 

We got an email from the Superintendent of our county on the 15th.  You can read it here: https://www.facebook.com/polkcountypublicschools/?__tn__=%2Cd%2CP-R&eid=ARDrQqjajRw8fiWVuitbW1iA1AIxVf5-uM3eLKIGG0crLLfQbr50HBQI1SgZ9VmYuL_ddhNywaF8MtjY
The intended outcome was to smooth things over and explain how she’d like us to move on. Reading the comments, many people believe this is a genuine, heartfelt email.  Others, not so much.  One unintended outcome is more bitterness.   It says “The first thing I can do is apologize for the e-mail from the Florida Department of Education.”  Yes, yes, we all CAN apologize, but do we?  She didn’t, really. And  admitting you should apologize after the whole country has heard what you did and thinks you're mean for doing it.   Yeah, it doesn’t ring really genuine to me. For many, many people this is too little, too late.

As teachers, we know that we don’t always see fruit tomorrow from the seeds we plant today. We know how to wait.  We know that everything takes time – there ‘s very little instant gratification in teaching.  I saw a student once in high school who told me “Thank you” for wanting more from him than he was willing to give. He said he didn’t get why I fussed at him for being mediocre when he was clearly capable of so much more.  He said when he got to high school, he understood.    I don’t know if our rally in Tallahassee will make much difference. I  hope so, I certainly think that some people I know, now understand some things they didn’t before. Teachers are good at “wait and see.”  I guess when it comes to these events, we will just have to wait and see.  

My 2 Cents, Part 1

So, there’s been a little mess going on in my little corner of the world lately.  Let me catch you up and then I’ll give you my 2 cents.  Now, I understand that with ONE dollar bill and my opinion, you can get a Polar Pop at the Circle K, but this is my blog and I can say what I want, I think. 

The Florida Education Association, along with the local teacher unions in all 67 counties of Florida planned an educational rally. The purpose of the rally was to ask/plead/beg our legislators to do better for public education.   In case you live under a rock and don’t know, education funding in the state of Florida is dismal to say the very least.  I read a statistic the other day that says that Per Student spending in Florida is $1000 less than it was in 2007-2008.  I’m not sure that stat is correct, but it came from a reasonable source.  I can’t make up stuff like that. . .

We were told that the reason we didn’t get a raise this year is that the state didn’t give our district enough money.  When buildings need repair, we are sometimes told: “there’s not enough money.”  The reason my school has 23 bus routes but only 17 buses, meaning some buses do multiple runs, which makes kids wait for over an hour to even leave school is “There’s no money.”  We hear all the time that “There’s no money.” The state keeps coming up with new demands for us but doesn’t provide the funds to do those things.  All in all, our state would rather give money to private schools and charter schools than actually fund public education properly.  
 So, when the FEA says “let's get together and ask/plead/beg the legislators of Florida to do better for the children of the fastest-growing state in the nation, many of us said “Sure! Let’s do it.” Some of us agreed instantly, some took a little longer to decide.   I heard about this rally in September.  I thought about it, forgot about it, thought about it, forgot about it.  When we voted on our contract and heard from our district yet again, “There's no money” I decided to go but I flip-flopped back and forth and back and forth. 
 Our union got buses, you could sign up to ride the bus for free, but a group of my friends decided to ride together.  We were going to ride up, march around with our signs, get a good hamburger and ride home.  Those who decided to support the rally were required to take a personal day off of work.  There are rules and procedures about a personal day and we followed those rules.  (I’ll talk about THAT in Part 2!)  
After Christmas break, I realized I couldn’t flip flop any more and had to make a decision and stick with it. After much debate, I decided to go to the rally, so I did my stuff.  On Wednesday of last week, we got a robocall from the School Board telling us that there would be higher than usual teacher absences than usual on Monday but that school would continue as usual.  On Friday, we got the same call.
On Friday night, I was sitting at my house and my phone started absolutely BLOWING up.  I was getting messages from the entire world, it seemed like.  We got an email from our district, forwarding an email from the General Counsel from the Florida DOE, basically telling us that if we continued with our “Strike” we could be fired and our union could be fired up to $20,000. 
For a little while, I was absolutely terrified and felt like I was going to vomit.  My logical mind was telling me one thing, another part of my mind was telling me something different.  I had friends in various emotional states right along with me.  Most of us went from fear, stress, and eventually anger.
This led to an entire weekend of  “This, That and Whatever.”  The Blame Game, Backpedaling, Flip-Flopping, “Pin the Guilt on the ________” has been rampant. Quite frankly, it was mentally and emotionally exhausting.  These are the facts as I see them.  
Now, here’s my 2 cents.  In 25 1/2 years, I have SEEN the changes in public education – and it’s not good.  Education is changing and it’s not the fault of teachers. Teachers don’t make the rules about education – and the people who do make the rules are NOT education people.   Let's let people who don’t know anything about your job makes the rules for your job and see how well that goes. 
I went to Tallahassee, I wore my red shirt (and my red sneakers of course) and marched and held my sign.  Why did I do it?  Because I felt it was the right thing for me to do.  I have a niece who wants to be a teacher.  I want her career to be better than mine has been. She deserves better. Eventually, I hope my nephew gets to be a dad and my niece gets to be a mom.  Their children deserve better.  The 2000 children at my school deserve better. The children of my former students deserve better. 
Let me add this:  The people who stood up and marched didn’t do it lightly. We didn’t take our personal day for fun. We did it because we believed that what we were doing was the right thing to do. 
And this is where I’m going to lose some of you.  If you don’t work in a public school or have not ever worked in a public school with all due respect, you have no right to talk about the pressures of our job.  You don’t know what it’s like. I don’t care if you have been to school – that doesn’t make you an expert on my job.  I’ve sat in a dentist's chair, but that doesn’t mean I understand dentistry.  I’ve flown in airplanes, but I don’t pretend to know what it’s like to be a pilot  So unless you’ve done it, and done it for more than a day or a month or a year or 5, you don’t get it either.  Visiting a school,  delivering things to a school, even volunteering in a school doesn't make you an expert.   
I”m very grateful for my friends. I have a friend who got angry before I did – and he gave me more courage than I knew I had. While I felt like throwing up, he was already angry.  He never wavered in his conviction and I'm thankful to him for that.    I have other friends who shared their concerns with me, which made me examine my own feelings and the facts,  to be able to answer their questions and help calm their fears. 
This was an ugly situation and everybody had to make a choice. The same choice didn’t work for everybody and all of us had to do what we felt was the right thing for us.  I lost respect for some people but not for what they decided to do or not do.  I lost respect for those who attempted to bully, belittle or give people grief because “they” ( the nasty people) didn’t like the choice the other person made.  To give people grief for doing what they feel like is the right thing – shame on you.  Yes, I said it.  Shame on you!!   
I'm not nearly done, but I'm finished now.

PS - That sign at the top wasn't mine. I wish I'd thought of it.  I wish I'd put on the back of  mine "We are Polk - and we are NOT proud!"     

Mine looked like this:

Wanna Help a Kid???

It’s almost time for our Fall Book Fair at school.  Last year I experimented with a Follett Book Fair instead of the book fair I’d always had by the red company.    One of the things I am so excited about this Follett Book Fair is this:  Gift Cards!  Yes, Gift Cards.  Here’s why:

Follett has a website where you can buy gift cards. The gift cards are “virtual”  I get an email telling me they exist.  This allows parents of small children to purchase a gift card at home, so sweet little babies don't have to carry money to school with them.  It’s really good for kids who lose things, or who may not be able to keep from telling other kids about their Book Fair money.  It also allows people from other places to buy gift cards for the Book Fair. For example, if little Joshua goes to my school. and his Great Aunt Sandi wanted to, she could buy him a gift card, no matter where she lives – and he can use it at the Book Fair at our school.   Isn’t that a brilliant idea? All people need is the link and an email address  – and they can buy a gift card for someone. 
Book Fairs are a  lot of work. The library is closed most of the time, a whole section is rearranged to make room, there’s the stress of dealing with money and worrying about things disappearing.  But there’s another stress factor that I never noticed until I was in charge of Book Fairs.  Here’s the awful thing – in every school in the world, there are kids who love books and love to read but don’t have money for books, even the value books at the Book Fair.  They sometimes come in and look, they “fondle" all the merchandise and have to put the books down and walk away, because they don’t have money. Some who love books don’t even come in and look, because what’s the point of looking if you know you can’t have it?  It’s heartbreaking. 
There are miles of research that show having books to read at home helps kids become better readers, which leads to them being better students.  I think we’d all agree that we want the future to be handled by smarter kids, as opposed to not so smart kids, right?? 
I have lots of books that were part of my classroom library when I was a classroom teacher,  Over the years, I’ve given a lot of them away.  I can buy used books to give to kids – and I do.  Used books are better than no books, absolutely.   But, there’s nothing like a brand new book that no one has ever read except you.  The crisp pages, the unmarked spine, the perfect cover. it just feels good. . .
So why am I telling you this?  Why do I want you to care that there are kids at my school who for reasons out of their control can’t buy books at a Book Fair? Because you can help.   You can be “Great Aunt Sandi” to a kid.  It’s true, you don’t know them, you may never see them. But you will do a greater thing.  You can help a kid have a brand new book that is his or her very own.  How do you say?  It’s simple – here’s a link:
https://www.giftfly.com/shop/follett-book-fairs
If you have a little extra, $5, 10, any amount you can buy a gift card. You can send it to me: sandijimmerson@gmail.com
I’ll use your gift card to let a kid who doesn’t have any money of his or her own, buy their very own brand new book in the Book Fair.
Here’s another thing – kids don’t understand sales tax (I’m not really sure I understand it either, but I know I have to pay it.)  I usually carry around a pocket full of change during our Book Fair – to pay the sales tax for kiddos who have $5 and a 4.99 book.  My volunteers have started doing it too – everybody comes in with jingling pockets.  If you want, you can buy a gift card and put “Sales Tax” on the “For” space – and I'll use your money to pay sales tax.  If you know me and live near me and wanted to bring me some change, that would work too, but I’ll take your gift card!
It’s hard for me to ask for help for myself.  I’ll almost hurt myself trying to do things on my own.   But, I’m not proud when it comes to my students. I’ll ask for help for them. So, do you want to help a kid??

Church Dinners

I love church dinners.  I have been a Baptist church girl my whole life long. That’s not lying – my parents took me to a Baptist Church almost as soon as I was born and until I was sick in the summer of 7th grade, I could count on my fingers the number of Sunday morning church services I'd missed.  So, when I tell you that I’ve eaten a lot of church food, that’s the absolute truth. . .

 “Dinner on the grounds” – that’s what we used to call it,  I think it’s called that because you eat on the church grounds. I’ve eaten in fellowship halls, in Sunday School rooms, on a blanket outside, standing, holding my plate in my hands.   When my daddy pastored at Evergreen Missionary Baptist Church, which is in-between Davenport and Loughman, they had and still have the best outdoor pavilion for dinner on the grounds I’ve ever seen. Do you know how much food can fit down that table in the center?

 There’s a unique set of smells that comes with dinner on the grounds. Of course, for most church dinners, you simply must have fried chicken.  Add in ham,  macaroni and cheese,  and casseroles – oh the casseroles.  Potato salad,  pasta salad, cole slaw, potatoes – scalloped, au gratin, it’s all good.  Butter beans, lima beans, green beans, it just goes on and on and on.

And then, there’s the dessert table.  There’s always banana pudding and chocolate cake. – it’s obligatory for Baptists.  Personally, I think it’s the 11th Commandment  -“Thou shalt have chocolate cake and banana pudding.”  One time at one of our churches, a lady made banana pudding specially for my daddy – and left out the bananas.  It might be better that way!  Mrs. Viola Wooten used to make a cake that looked like this:



It was fabulous!!! Those little tiny skinny layers and the  homemade chocolate frosting - I can still taste it.  My mama always made 7 Minute Frosting for her cakes  – it’s made with white Karo syrup and it gets crystal-ly after a while. Most ladies have their thing - certain recipes that they are known for. It's a slippery slope to make something someone else is known for. It can be a scary thing.  Personally, I only bring things Publix makes. Today I had some grape salad that I was sure Debbie C made, but she didn't.  I'll always eat Gail Thompson's potato salad - it tastes like my mama's. 

Of course, now, we call them “Fellowship Dinners." We eat at nice tables, with flower arrangements and cushy chairs. It's a lot different than eating outside in a metal chair that is sinking into the ground. Some things are still the same - you can still smell chicken when it’s over.  There really doesn’t have to be a reason.  Sometimes it’s as simple as the 5th Sunday of the month.  My church fed my family after my mother’s funeral and my dad’s funeral.   Today, my church celebrated our Music Minister’s retirement.  He’s been serving God and churches for 45 years. It was bittersweet - we are happy for him, but sad for us.  Sometimes it’s a happy reason, sometimes it’s sad but the food is always good.   
If you’ve never had dinner on the ground, you just don’t know what you’re missing. I love church dinners - there's nothing like them in the whole world. 

Back to My Blog

So I’ve decided to come back to my blog.   I originally started my blog as part of my assignments when I was taking classes in London in 2008. After I got home, I kept writing it, but lately, since I started my "new" job (I’m in the 4th year!) I just haven’t written much.  I really don’t even know why. I like writing this, even if no one reads it. I write about stuff that makes me laugh, makes me crazy, whatever.  It is sometimes just completely random thoughts from my head.    My mind is a crazy place and sometimes with no focus, it’ s an absolute mess.  I write just like  I think so I’m positive it’s not always grammatically correct, but oh well. It's mine and I can do with it what I want.
The title of this is “At Least We’re Not Being  Bombed by the Nazis.”  There’s a reason for that. During the 6 weeks, I was in London, we heard that during our Orientation to the FSU Study Centre.  There are tunnels and walkways underground that are used to get from one building to another during certain times of the day.  During World War II, those tunnels were used during air raids. The Director of the Study Centre said that even if you had to use them late at night,  and it was a little creepy, and a longer walk, at least you weren't being bombed by the Nazis at the same time.  When I made the blog, I just liked the way that sounded.  It also puts a lot of things in n perspective. No matter how bad things get and how crazy my life gets, at least we’re not being bombed by the Nazis. 

So, what’s going on in my life this week? I’ll tell you.  This week would have been my parent’s 58th wedding anniversary and my daddy would be 80 this week. That’s a little sad to me.  Also on August 30th, some dear, dear friends of mine celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.  Today  Mr. Donald said to our kids in Junior Church  “It seems like just yesterday.”   That’s a great thing to say.  There are three couples I know who have been married 50 years this year. That’s quite an accomplishment. A lot of people don’t last to 50 days or 50 months, must less 50 years. It takes a lot of hard work.


I start checking out books to students this week, finally!   I’ve been moving textbooks for 2 weeks. I figured out one week we moved quite literally over a ton of books. It’s craziness what it appears it takes to teach little kids to read and write and do math. Yay for library time!!! Yay for seeing students besides at the bus!! Yay for reading!!! 

Textbook Inventory

So one of the things that happens in my job is I get stuck doing textbook inventory. That’s one of those things that technically isn’t my job, but it’s one of those things that people just expect me to do. It’s just like what it sounds like – I have to take an inventory of all the textbooks at my school.  Sounds pretty simple right?

At my old school, I could do textbook inventory in a day. Well, once I got rid of over 6000 books that we didn’t use any more that no one had gotten rid of for YEARS .  Tomorrow morning I’m going to collect the middle school books at my school.  It will take me a couple of hours.  So many of our books are online now, I only have class sets to check in and teacher’s editions.   Ah, but my school now is not just a middle school.  . . and elementary textbooks are a nightmare.

Our county uses Reading Wonders for elementary school. Let me attempt to explain what it takes to teach little kids how to read.  For Grades 2-5, every teacher gets 2 books per student – a literature anthology and a reading/writing workshop. Yes, 2 hardback books per student. Luckily, at our school we departmentalize for grades 4 and 5, so even though each ELA teacher teachs two groups of students, they only get one set of books. Each teacher also gets a Teacher’s Edition for each chapter. . .  That’s a LOT of books. 
Oh, but that’s still not all.  Kindergarten and first grade. Oh my!
Kindergarten doesn’t get textbooks for students.  They get big books instead. 43 big books for each teacher to be exact. Yes, I said 43. . . each teacher. Plus all the teacher’s editions.

But NOTHING beats first grade. It apparently takes 100’s of items to teach first graders how to read. . . They don’t get 2 books per students.  They get (are you ready for this???) 8 books per student. Yes 8!  4 Reading Writing Workshops – one for each unit and 4 Literature Anthologies – one per unit. They also get teacher’s editions – 6 of them. Then, just in case that isn’t enough, they also get 22 big books.  One of my first-grade teachers had 216 items checked out when she came to me.   This is what it takes to teach first grade. 

None of this even counts Math Teacher’s Editions- that’s the green books!   And we also are NOT counting Leveled Readers.  Tiny little books in 4 levels for each story in the book.  It’s unbelievable. Today, leveled readers almost pushed me over the edge. 

Now, here’s my question. I was a late reader.  I didn’t learn to read until the summer between 2nd and 3rd grade.  (Of course, I did start kindergarten when I was 4 so I was a baby.)   My teachers didn’t have all that stuff – but they taught me to read. I remember my kindergarten teacher having blow-up people for every letter – Mr. M had a  munchy mouth, Mr. F had Funny feet. and Ms. A said “Ah, ah choo!”  I don’t believe that kids today are dumb.  I don’t believe teachers now are ignorant.  What’s the deal?  I would be fascinated to see how much money our county spends on textbooks.

Now, why do I LOVE textbook inventory so much? So many reasons. I can’t ever do it fast enough to make people happy.  It takes a LONG time to check in that many books. You have to check them in, put them in storage and attempt to get them in some sort of order so you can give them all back out again.  And the storage rooms are hot. I was sweating before 8:30 and that was just the beginning.  And just for funsies?  I  get to take them all up, store them all, and check them all back out again in 8 weeks.  Yes, 8 weeks.  Seems like a lot of work for 8 weeks doesn’t it?? 

A Partially Plagiarized Post about Pumpkin Bread

So some of this came from my sister.  In order to avoid plagiarizing and to add my own two cents, I’m using different fonts and colors.  My thoughts look like this: 

If it’s in this font and this color, it’s my sister Robyn’s story! 

The story of the pumpkin bread.
All of my life, my mom made pumpkin bread. My dad loved it, and we all loved it, but the ones who probably loved it most was Daddy and my youngest sister, Sandi. (That’s me!) A lot of people know Sandi, but not everyone knows that her real name is Saundra Jean. She was named after some really good friends of our parents, Saundra and Jean Scott. That is important later!

Mom made pumpkin bread for everything - when we were in school, she would make it for our teachers and we would take it to them wrapped in tin foil. In later years, Daddy became the "mixer". Mom would throw all the ingredients together and Daddy mixed it for her. I would call from time to time and get the recipe and make some (often for my boys to take to their teachers wrapped in foil), but I always jotted the recipe down, made it and threw the recipe away - I never wrote it in one of my recipe books.  I have never, ever made pumpkin bread in my life.  I just eat it.  My mom used to call me sometimes and say she had warm pumpkin bread – to come and get some. It would be warm with butter melted on it – fabulous!!!

When Mom went to heaven unexpectedly in May of 2001, it wasn't until the fall that Daddy and Sandi began to ask - how are we going to get our pumpkin bread? I searched to be sure that I didn't have it written down, and then I began to bake recipes I could find, trying to make it just like Mom's. I made many pumpkin breads for a couple of years - and although they were always good, they weren't just right.   They were always a little off. Sometimes the color wasn’t right, or the texture. My friend Mrs. Sharon makes pumpkin muffins that are pretty close. . .

When Daddy decided to sell their house and was cleaning it out he found an old cook book called "Glades Goodies" from the Pahokee Junior Woman's Club. Inside was written "For Betty, From Cecelia, Christmas 1968". The book just opened up to a worn out page that was stained and old - and there was the recipe for pumpkin bread. I still didn't get it right until I finally remembered that Mom always substituted the cinnamon and nutmeg with allspice - that was when it was "right".  Okay, here’s the weird thing – I knew about the allspice thing.  I have no idea what goes in pumpkin bread,  and I don’t even know what allspice is, but somehow, I knew Mama put it in pumpkin bread.  Since Daddy has joined Mom in heaven, it is Sandi that still always asks for pumpkin bread - usually for her birthday in October. Making pumpkin bread always makes the house smell like Mom's…....and brings back such happy memories- and - guess who submitted the recipe into this cook book? Saundra Scott!

My sister wrote this today, because she brought me pumpkin bread for my birthday.  Sometimes, when I eat it, it makes me cry.  I don’t love pumpkin spice everything – I don’t even particularly like pumpkin pie, but there’s something about pumpkin bread.  It’s a beautiful thing.

My Everything Tree

I have this tree in my living room.  It’s a skinny tree, fake of course, or it would be dead. . . It stands in the corner.  My sister got it for me several years ago for Christmas, but it's not a Christmas tree.  It’s my Year-Round Tree.
I saw it in a catalogue. In the catalogue, there were  kits you cold buy to decorate the tree for every month.   I thought that was  a neat idea, so my sister bought me a tree. 
I do change the decorations by the season.  Last Saturday, I put all my FSU stuff on it.  September starts college football so it gets my FSU decorations. 


In October, it gets bats and monsters.
In November, fall leaves and  Thanksgiving things.
In December, I put my special ornaments on it that might get lost in my big tree.  ( Or sometimes I make it my purple tree and only put purple stuff on it!)
In January, it’s gets snowflakes. (Yes I know, we live in Florida – pretend snowflakes on a tree are as good as it gets!) February, on go the Valentine hearts.  In March I sometimes do Easter and sometimes do spring.  April gets lambs and more spring.  May I usually just ignore and summer time gets flip-flops and sea shells.
But I have some special ornaments that stay on all the time.  They are my favorites. 
I have book ornaments, and old keys just because I love them.  I have a teacher ornament.


This one I got from my sister when we got her annual pass for Disney World. 


This is my Bubba cat. I miss him, even though he was mean and no one liked him except my Daddy and me.

This is my newest ornament. It’s my Feed the Birds ornament.  I love Mary Poppins and I got this at St. Paul’s Cathedral when we were in London last month. (It cost a little more than “tuppence.”)
 
This is my pearl S.  My friend Jennifer had a “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” themed birthday party and these told us where to sit. 


My sweet friend Ashley found this set in her Christmas stuff and gave them to me. It’s  a whole set of Dr. Seuss ornaments!


There are several ladybugs, because my Daddy called me “Bug” until the last time he talked to me.

This one may be the most special.  My Daddy told us for years that when it was time for him to go, to call Kersey’s and let them take care of him.  Kersey’s is our local funeral home.  They did a wonderful job taking care of all the stuff for us.  Every year, they have a memorial service for all the people that they have taken care of during the year.  They have ornaments made and decorate their own Christmas tree. The year  my Daddy passed away, we were all just too raw to attend the service.  It was in December after Daddy died in September.  A few days after the service, I got this in the mail. I don’t know why it came to me instead of Mrs. Betty, my daddy’s wife or even my sisters. But it hangs on my year round tree. 



I love my tree – and I love the stuff on it. Maybe you need a year round tree.

The Proms at Royal Albert Hall

Beautiful music in a beautiful space.

So today we went to Royal Albert Hall for The  Proms.  I have seen these on BBC and had no idea quite what it is. The Proms are a concert series in the summer.  They are mostly held at the Royal Albert Hall, although according to my research, some are held elsewhere.  “Proms” is short for “promenade concert,”  and comes from the practice in the past, of strolling through gardens while an orchestra plays. 

Today was a Ten Pieces Proms.  It’s a program designed to teach children about classical music.  Today, we heard these songs:

• No Place Like by Kerry Andrew
• Anthology of Fantastic Zoology – Sprite; A Bao A Qu by Mason Bates
• Symphony No. 1 in G major – Allegro (1st movement) by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges
• Rodeo - Hoe-Down by Aaron Copland
• Symphony No. 9 in E minor, 'From the New World’ – Largo (2nd movement) by Antonín Dvořák
• ‘Enigma’ Variations – Theme (Enigma), variations 11, 6 & 7 by Edward Elgar
• Carmina Burana - 'O fortuna' by Carl Orff
• Abdelazer – Rondeau by Henry Purcell
• Finlandia by Jean Sibelius
• The Nutcracker - Waltz of the Flowers and Russian Dance by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

I wish I could show you what a beautiful space Royal Albert Hall is. . . It’s simply breath-taking. It’s HUGE – it holds up to 5,272 seats and opened in 1871.  You wouldn’t believe all the people who have appeared there = every musical act you can imagine as well as important people.  From the Spice Girls to Muhammed Ali, everyone has been here it seems.  Classical musicians to sumo wrestlers to Cirque de Soleil, it’s amazing. 

There is a great interactive “map” here that shows you people who have appeared: http://appearing.royalalberthall.com/

So here are a few pictures I took today before it started.

B

A New Adventure

In January of 2007, I started a program called Project LEAD to become a media specialist.  To say that this changed my life is an understatement. I think I blogged about it before. . .

Part of that adventure involved  a 6 week stay in London in the summer of 2008.  One of our professors was teaching two classes that we needed in London in the summer.  I decided to go – I had never even stayed in a hotel room by myself before so flying to another continent was really out of my comfort zone. It was fabulous! I don’t even have enough words to say what a wonderful experience it was.  I started this blog during that trip – it was actually an assignment. 

I spent a weekend in Paris and a weekend in Scotland, saw the white cliffs of Dover and  walked through the home of CS Lewis.  We saw castles and cathedrals and buildings still showing damage from World War II. . . 

So, my professor has taught in London many times since then. I’m always fascinated when she goes and follow along on her journey through social media.   Before Christmas, my friend Harry (my professor’s husband) said  “We’re going to London again this summer – you should come!”  I thought I’d love to, but then just sort of let it go.  But it kept sticking in my head. 

So here, I am in a flat, in London, with Dr E, Harry and my sister. We are having a fabulous time.  A new adventure is here!

Summer Project 1 Done!

I sometimes have a problem finishing projects.  This year before school ended I had 3 projects going on at the same time. It makes my dining room table a mess but that’s sort of how my brain works.

My first summer homework was to fix my letter box. I need to explain. I have a slight obsession with bulletin board borders and bulletin board letters. I’ve taught for so long, when I first started, my school did not  have an Ellison machine. For those of you who don’t know, an Ellison machine is a letter cutter.  It’s not a Cricut or a Silhouette cutter by any stretch of the imagination.  It’s the most simple thing in the world: you put the paper under the die cut, pull the lever and it cuts your letter. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.  When I started teaching we didn’t have one. So, you had to trace and cut your own letters. . . It took a LONG time. I still have a tracing kit somewhere.

So I started buying letter sets.  Teacher stores and Hobby Lobby  sell letter sets. They usually have to be punched out but they come in cute patterns.  I have a huge weakness for bulletin board borders and letter sets. I almost can’t contain myself or stop buying them. I know – it’s a sickness. There’s just so many cute sets and I never know which set I might need.  Here are just  a few of my my sets: 

 

Several years ago, while my school resource deputy was teaching my class, I made little envelopes for all my letters, sorted them and stored them in a box.  It makes it really, really simple to find the ones I need.  My box looked like this:

And this:

I  made those envelopes at least 6 years ago but I think it was longer.  They were looking a little worse for wear.  And  I have so many sets, they wouldn’t all fit in one box. So, . . I found these great Ziploc type packets from Amazon. . . and found new boxes.  Here they all are. 

The new packets/envelopes are almost pencil case sized. The only thing is, my M’s and W’s are too tall and they won’t zip.  But it’s better. it’s much much better. I can check one thing off my summer “to do” list.    And now, I think I’ll work on another part of my to do list – naps!

My friend, Mr. Al.

Last Wednesday afternoon, I got a phone call that no one wants to get. My dear friend Susan Smith (known to most people who know me as “Mrs. Smith) called me to tell me that her husband Al had unexpectedly passed away.  To say that this shook me was a bit of an understatement.  I was and still am a mess.  I love words, but I’m not even sure I can find the right words to tell you about my friend Mr. Al.

In 1994, I started as a full time 6th grade Social Studies teacher at Westwood Middle School.  At that time, we were on teams – a group of teachers all taught the same kids and those students rotated between them.  I was the Social Studies teacher and a woman named Susan Smith was the Science teacher on my team.  Who knew that she would end up being one of my dearest, closest friends?

We found out through that year and many more how much we have in common. We were born on the same day – October 15.  Different years of course, but we shared a birthday.  We both are horrible losers, and ridiculously competitive.  Neither one us believes in doing something the easy way, if there’s a hard way.  We spent many, many nights together alone on our hallway.  We walked to the car together many, many nights. The day she left school on her last year, I didn’t think I would be able to teach without her. I’ve only felt so lost a few other times in my life. 

When you spend that much time with a person, you meet their spouse. I don’t have any recollection of meeting Mr. Al for the first time.  We probably ate together.  Since 1994, we’ve eaten many meals together.  Mrs. Smith always laughs and says Mr. Al and I have the same palate.  We both are not particularly fond of many vegetables and both have a tendency to eat the same thing at the same restaurants.

We have eaten countless meals together, been to the movies many,  many times, and watched hours and hours of college football together.  When I found out I was accepted at FSU, I went running down the hallway to tell Mrs. Smith first. I was in her room when I called my sisters!  It was a Wednesday, so I had church, but the next night, Mr. Al and Mrs. Smith took me to dinner. Mr. Al said “they” had a present for me. It was my little library, and my very first FSU anything.  You see, they both got their Bachelor’s degrees at USF (just like me)  but then Mr.. Al went to Law School at FSU.  He was very excited that I was going to be a Seminole.  Mrs. Smith was with me at school all day, so “they” was really him. I used to tell him he should teach husband lessons – he was the sweetest, sweetest man.

Mrs. Smith and Mr. Al got married the same year I was born. Age-wise, they could have been my parents and in some ways, they acted in that capacity.  They were at my graduation from FSU.

I called Mrs. Smith first when my mother passed away.  We had our Mom’s funeral on Monday,  and on Tuesday, I left to go to the beach where Mrs. Smith was staying.  She fed me, listened to me and cried with me. When I left, I was better. I wasn’t OK yet, but I was better.  I’ve house  - and dog-sat for them 100 times.  We’ve had long conversations about any number of topics. We didn’t always agree and we’ve had some very loud discussions. We’ve spent Christmases, Thanksgivings, and birthdays together.  My daddy, my nephews and Mr. Al – some of  my most favorite men in the whole world. 

 

We’ve spent so much time together. It’s been a little more difficult lately, because I’m still working Mrs. Smith has retired and Mr. Al has cut back a LOT on his work hours. I am irritated with myself for letting time slip away.  .  .

Here’s what I know about Mr. Al..  He would  be your biggest cheerleader, but he didn't hesitate to tell you if you were being stupid.   He loved Mrs. Smith, their boys, and the girls that his boys loved.  He loved golf,  tennis , FSU and the law.  And for whatever reason, Al Smith loved me – and I’m  better for it. 

In the musical Wicked, one of my favorite songs is “For Good.”  Part of the lyrics go like this:

It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime.
So, let me say before we part:
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you.
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart.
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have rewritten mine
By being my friend.

Who can say if I've been changed for the better
But because I knew you.
I have been changed for good.

Al Smith left handprints all over the hearts of everyone who knew him.  And because we knew him, our lives are better. 

Banana Puddin’

I don’t cook a lot. I don’t have a signature recipe.  My friend Chris makes a bacon-wrapped meatloaf that is apparently incredible! I've seen it, but I’ve never eaten it.  He’s known for that meatloaf.  My sister is a great cook. She makes the best biscuits I’ve ever eaten.  My friend Donna Moody makes lemon blossoms – these little  2 bite size cookie things that are just fabulous. I know other people that everything they make is just wonderful – my friends Kathy R, and Debbie C and Sharon D.  I’m not that good at anything. 

However, once upon a time I made my sister Robyn’s recipe for banana puddin’.  Yes, it’s  puddin’ not pudding. . . At a school where I once worked,  we had a “cooking contest” and I made Robyn’s banana puddin.  I won.  The person in charge had to give me the first place prize and she wasn’t happy about it.  This banana puddin’ ROCKS!  There is French vanilla pudding involved and heavy whipping cream and whole milk and cool whip and a few other things.  It’s so thick and creamy, you can’t POUR the pudding, you have to scoop it.  It’s pretty good, even if I do say so myself. 

So, the day I won that cooking contest, I had leftovers. I took  the bowl to church for my AWANA leaders. They loved it – which was very satisfying. They bring goodies quite often, and I simply can’t do enough for them, so it made me happy when they liked it.  I felt like Sally Field – “ They like it, they really, really like it!”

On Monday, my sweet friend Mrs. Dawn’s husband went home to be with Jesus.  She’s beside herself, as you can probably imagine.  Her friend, her husband, her sweetie – is gone away from her.  She’s got an empty spot inside.  

I had to go to Publix yesterday so I called another friend who I knew would be with her. I asked her what Mrs. Dawn needed.  You know that in the South, when someone passes away, we bring food. My friend Mrs. Turner is from New Jersey and she doesn’t get that.  She asked me once “What’s up with you people? The day my mother died, there were people knocking on my door with food.”  But, that’s what we do!   She didn’t need food, but she did need some plastic cups!

I asked Mrs. Debbie if there was anything Mrs. Dawn needed or wanted.  Mrs. Dawn told Mrs. Debbie she didn’t need anything but she sure would like  some of my banana pudding.   

So tonight, I made a banana puddin’ and delivered it to my friend Mrs. Dawn.  It’s not a  big deal  - she’s already gotten lots of stuff from other people.  It’s not going to keep her company in the night when she turns over and her husband isn’t there.  It won’t make having to go the funeral home and get through the next few days any easier.  But she smiled when I took it to her and she enjoyed it while she ate some of it.  For a minute, she smiled and ate banana puddin’.  And that, my friend Mrs. Turner is why we do it.