A little more about me, in another way

I will let you know, this is not a piece written by the man who wrote the Unfortunate Event series of books, but I may begin writing that way. If I had known he would have been so successful, I would have written the series myself, but most people would have said to me, “Are you sure you want to be so glum?” I will never forget the first time I opened up one of the books. The first page said something to this effect: “I’m going to let you know right now, there is no silver lining to the story in this book. It does not occur at the beginning, middle or end. There is no happy ending.” It seems as if my life has been a series of unfortunate events, and I’m hoping that there will be a happy ending, though in my story.

I had a great life. My dad died before I was born, but my mom was awesome. She knew how to beat struggles. She was a teacher, and she taught me about teaching. She never stopped being a teacher, even when her career was cut short in 1982. She taught for 25 years, and in the middle of her 25th year, the school system said she was an “incompetent” teacher, but she was in no way incompetent. She was very competent and loved by her students. I ran into a former student the other day, and when I told him what had happened, he was saddened. He said in his memory of his teachers, she was thought of with fondness, that what happened was “unfortunate.” He is an attorney. She had quite a few students become attorneys. Oh, she taught science and biology. I know she was a good teacher because she taught me about the mysteries of science. I was always a bit “slow” in science, and she knew how to explain it to me. She knew her stuff.

When I was 16, she was diagnosed with colon cancer. Actually, she was diagnosed in an emergency condition. She had been having severe abdominal pain for weeks and had puked every 2 ½ hours the night before she went to the hospital. I could tell by the clock when I would hear the awful sound. It was like “clockwork.” The words were ones that I had always feared: Cancer. But, the surgeon said when he came out of the emergency surgery, that he got it all. I had always heard when, “They got it all,” it seemed as if life would continue, that it was good news. I told my mom when she awoke from the surgery, that it was cancer, but “they got it all,” and she looked relieved. I thought, “we got it all” was the silver lining. I thought it was just a little “burp” in life, but it turned out to be a struggle the next three years of her life, our life.

She/we struggled for the next three years. The cancer went into remission for about 6 months, and then it ravaged her body. She died July 12, 1994.

So, I continued going to school. I had started college in the fall of 1993, and I finished my classes the winter the cancer ravaged her body.

I was majoring in psychology, and now, I wonder why I did such a thing. People that major in psychology get a Masters in it or counsel people. I wasn’t interested in doing either one. I thought, and had heard, “you just need a degree, and a degree in something,” and that was what I went with---I thought I could get any kind of job. So, after graduating in 1998, I got “any” kind of job, a job in insurance, 100% commission. I thought I was going to make it “Big” anytime. I lived off savings, from my mom.

At some time, in my second year, of insurance sales, I decided I needed a job that paid, for your time. I got a job at a bank, and my uncle (my mom’s brother) is ever reminded that I didn’t stay there. I hated it. Hated it. I cried before I would start the day. I knew, at that point, in 2000, that I needed to work in a school, in spite of what I had told myself.

There was a resentment on my part toward the school system that had said my mother was incompetent and fired her in the middle of her 25th year of teaching, stripping her of her right to a retirement party and “hooplah” when someone retires. She should have had that retirement party and she should have had honor, instead of having to pack up in January and leave her career in education behind. There is a point of no return when you have years of experience in education: no one wants to hire you if you were toward the end of your career as a teacher, and especially if you were “fired” on grounds of incompetence.

I, somehow, found a way to get past that resentment. I, somehow, knew I loved working with kids who had learning problems more than my fear or resentment of what happened to my mother.

I also had problem with the stock market. The stock market is not a place for amateurs, and I lost a bunch of money. I knew I needed a career with a future and stability, and on that I would love. I had heard that special education was virtually recession proof. I “smoothed over” that resentment and went full tilt into special education.

There is something I forgot about---in 1997 or 1998, I met a guy, lost my heart and it would seem, lost my head, also. That struggle hit me quite heavily recently.

For a year, I worked in an urban school district as a special educator, before I got my license from the State, to teach.

I loved my student teaching experience and loved the district. It used to be, though, that it was easy to get jobs in education, and I suppose, special education, but over the years, it has been increasingly difficult. If you are willing to move, yes, maybe there is a shortage, but then again, you may be competing with people from the area that is out of your area. I thoroughly believe that for every opening in a school system, there are countless numbers of people interested in each and every opening.

My teaching test was mis-scored in 2003, and the 2003-2004 school year was a complete mess. I finally called my University in 2004, and asked if they knew of any openings, anywhere. Sure enough, thankfully, there was an educational opening. It was 50 miles away, but I took it. I took it, and I loved it. I loved it. Loved the people. Loved the place. I was in love.

In 2007, my long, three year “honeymoon” ended. They didn’t need people who performed my job anymore. I also found out that there was a glitch within a Federal law and my state, that may have further “tripped” me from getting another job.