Sounds of Hope

Yesterday, someone asked me - so, now that you've finished your PhD what are you doing?  I wanted to correct this person and say, no, I don't have a PhD, I have an EdD.  I knew this person thought that my degree of EdD was useless and that only a PhD will do... he is an academic elitist and quite arrogant.  I opted to ignore the PhD part of the question and just answer him. Even though I'm not still working as a teacher I said - I've been teaching at a Technical College.  I'm sure that in his mind he was saying tsk tsk, a technical college.  If I told him that it was a proprietary school that taught welders, electricians, HVAC techs, and a variety of medical programs I am sure that he would have thought - what a waste of time.  I don't like arrogant elitist people.  I think that's why I loved teaching at the school where I've pour my heart into for the last year and a half. By most standards, I'm considered well off.  I live in a nice h...

If you've read this blog very much you have probably figured out that I know a lot of hymns and gospel songs. I am finally old enough to “get it” about these songs of faith. I’ve commented before how my brain pulls one out of the recesses of my memory. Yesterday it was The Church’s One Foundation . This morning it started with He Leadeth Me while still in the shower. Then it quickly turned to the peppier In My Heart Their Rings a Melody . I can remember trying to track the words in the hymnal with my index finger when I first started to read. I remember wondering what the byonder was when we would sing that the roll would be called up byonder .  I don’t know if it was the mix of the Norwegian accent I heard or something else,  but I heard it byonder . Of course, it wasn't when, it was  Ven the roll . To this day, while I sing without the accent, my heart hears the strong Norwegian accent when it hears the hymns. We had a choir in our Norwegian church. The first choir...

Like the moment of silence at a ceremony, to commemorate the dead, I have been silent. The moment of silence is now over. Ordinary days will begin again. I suspect they will not be the same as ordinary days before. From here on out, ordinary will have mix of sadness at moments when I remember. Tomorrow I will stumble out to the apartment kitchen in Brookings looking for coffee. My youngest daughter gave a latte style mug. It is my favorite. I’ve had other favorite mugs. Perhaps my all time favorite mug was a mug that said MOM. We were on a trip to Hershey PA. All the children were told pick out something for yourself. They had a dollar limit. Jason, one of my older sons, took his money and bought that coffee mug for me. His sacrifice touched me deeply. I never let anyone else touch that mug. I still have it. The MOM is worn to where you can barely see it. This latest favorite mug does not have a story with it. My youngest daughter Shahnaz gave it to me for mother’s day. It says: A mo...