Once Upon a Time. . .

It has been a very busy fall with school starting and our contracts with schools demanding hours of planning, driving to schools, and working with a lot of educators. I like the work but some things have suffered. Number one has been my exercise program! I have to start putting my health first and getting the exercise to help with the stress. There, I said it, now I need to put my tush in motion.
This past weekend I drove to Rapid City to attend the wedding of a very special young man. Eleven years ago I met Luke as an incoming Freshman at DWU. He wanted to be a teacher and came to DWU because he was recruited by the baseball coach. This was the beginning of a wonderful time in my life! I watched baseball games in the fall when it was starting to get cold, rained, and even snowed. I watched baseball games in the spring when it was still cold, snowed and rained, and the wind was blowing. I was privileged to travel with the team to the Metrodome and sit in the Twins dugout with the team. I traveled to Florida with these fine young men. I have watched them laugh with each other, learned about their superstitions, watched them win and watched them lose (both games and special friends), and shared tears with them more than once.
So, this weekend was special because some of these young men were able to come together to celebrate. Their coach, Adam, is the short guy in the back row. He is the reason these guys know each other. He is the one who recruited these fine young men. So once upon a time there was a team and today these young men are dear friends and they still make me laugh and cry and I am blessed to know each of them.