The dark sky I awoke to this morning matched my emotional state.
As I showered, I did so with a heavy heart…knowing that this would be my last “official” day working in the office. I tried to keep myself composed as I carefully dressed, putting on one of the school shirts that Ms. D had recently given me. The kids and I read devotions, and I teared up as I thanked God for the job He had given me.
When I got to school, Ms. D asked how I was doing.
“Fine,” I said, with all sincerity. Until I saw something beside my computer monitor:
I won’t share what she wrote in the card, but the feelings expressed in it mirrored what I wrote about her in yesterday’s post.
That’s when I lost it.
She did too.
We stood up and hugged.
And then we got to work. And boy, did we work!
This was our second day in a row of severe storms, and we were under a tornado watch/warning for a good portion of the day. It was also the last school day before Spring Break. The combination was deadly. We were slammed with phone calls and visitors…all wanting to check out students. At times, the line backed up to the door.
True wildness.
A blessing in disguise.
I did what I had done from Day 1 and worked my behind off, never letting on that it was my last day.
Ms. D and I had a few chuckles as we expressed the “Attendance Attitude” at the lame excuses and flat-out lies we were bombarded with.
Some of the ones that stood out:
Bored
Weather (One dad, quite attitude-y in his own right, claimed that the county had issued a “excused” absence for students due to the weather. Not quite…we chose not to argue, but gave him “The Look.” His girls were not excused in the computer, and we got the last laugh.)
One from yesterday…Emotionally Distressed (um…who was the child excusing…him or us? Try “laid off.”)
We were able to get away, individually, for a short time to inhale a bit of food. During my time, I sat in another friend’s office and told her about my situation. She already knew…word had traveled fast. She told me that everyone in the office was extremely sad to see me go. That made me feel good but sad too. I want to share the daily routine with these amazing people.
The afternoon rush was much like the morning, and we finally had a few moments of peace around 2pm.
That’s when I broke out the Reese’s Cups I had purchased yesterday. I told Ms. D that it was time for our moment. We opened the package and toasted (i.e. “clinked” our cups together much as you do with wine glasses) our time together. I followed suit with the receptionist and gave the last cup to the 9th grade guidance counselor, who looked like she needed something besides chocolate. She has a rough job that I have witnessed first-hand during the last few weeks.
Before I knew it, the final bell rang, and it was time to go. I looked at Ms. D, and she had tears in her eyes.
Sigh…
What a hard day…on everyone.
And then the after-school frenzy began with kids needing bus passes and miscellaneous other things…stuff that’s taken care of after I leave. I looked at Ms. D and said, “And life goes on.”
And so it does.
Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: jobs, school, work | 4 Comments »
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