This snowfall in 2011 has really wreaked some havoc on my daily schedule, but in keeping with my Ranch Hand Guide for 2011, I’m just going with the flow.  I took advantage of a snow day last week by cleaning and reorganizing my craft closet.  This of course, affected other closets in my home, but I found some words that made me smile.

By “cleaning” I mean I dumped items out onto the floor and separated them into one of three piles: estate sale, burn pile, and trash.  If I could justify keeping it, I put it in a container and moved on.  Eventually, I made my way upstairs and started going through my folder from all of my years of teaching.  I took a little time to reorganize my work history, and then I opened a file folder that I had named “Love Letters.”

I remember making that folder.

This folder holds my motivation for going to work every day.  I am a teacher.  We are up against scrutiny from every direction, but every once in a while we make a difference.  Even less often, someone thanks us for it.  Even less often than that, someone actually writes a note expressing his or her gratitude.  Those notes from parents and students written to me expressing some kind of thanks for something I did for them are in that folder.

I read every one.

The topics of the notes had nothing to do with the subject I taught at the time.  Parents wrote about getting their kids through “a difficult” year; students wrote about getting them through “a difficult” year.  Neither group mentioned a noun, verb, or essay.

I needed to be reminded of that.

Today words are enough.  The world of education has gotten a little crazy lately.  I had started to wonder if I had made the right choice by becoming a teacher.  Thank you.  Thank you for your kind words.  If you need to thank someone for something, do it.  Write a note.  Write something in your own handwriting in that Valentine’s Day card that you are giving to the one you love.  Don’t just sign your name.  Write the words you really want to say.  It may just be enough to get someone through another day.

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