I found out today that the father of two of my students - 2002/2003 and 2003/2004 died on Friday. This man is partly responsible for my decision to leave teaching. I held a lot of hard feelings towards him for a long time - had put in a lot of time, effort and heart in working with his two children, and was not repaid kindly. It was only after going through a program called Pathways that I was able to let go of my hard feelings. I remember vividly the day in church I was sitting with my best friend T and her family, and this man and his family sat a few rows in front of us. T leaned over to make sure I was okay, and after checking myself, realized that I was just fine.
About two years later I'd arrived late for church one day and was waiting in the foyer to go in. This man approached me and apologized for his actions and behavior. I am so glad now that I was able to tell him that all had been forgiven.
His two children will be heading to college or to their last year of high-school this coming school year. My heart breaks for them losing their dad so young.
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I also am feeling sad because of a story that was shared by a friend of mine on FB today. She's not a friend in the traditional sense where we spent a lot of time together and knew each other well, but I did know her in real life when we both lived in Minnesota. Her mom was the local elementary school's teacher/principal.
She shared a story today of how in 2009 she'd moved to NY to be near a boyfriend, and the relationship hadn't lasted long. She stayed on, and a year or so later met someone else. This someone else turned out to be mentally and physically abusive. It was less than a year ago that she finally managed to leave the situation with only the clothes on her back and her wallet. She's now $20k in debt and trying to pick up the pieces.
It just goes to show that you never know what is going on in someone's life.
Feeling Sad
April 21st, 2014 at 10:41 pm
April 22nd, 2014 at 12:48 am 1398127709
April 22nd, 2014 at 01:21 pm 1398172879
April 22nd, 2014 at 01:57 pm 1398175072
April 22nd, 2014 at 02:55 pm 1398178527
And I'm sorry you feel sad; having had a bad relationship makes it worse.
Please take care. You are in my prayers.
April 23rd, 2014 at 03:04 am 1398222286
Joan - the man who died was a good man and good father - he just made some choices which very negatively affected me - mostly I think in reaction to not wanting to believe that his kids weren't perfect.
Thankfully the other man that my friend was involved with doesn't have any kids (as far as I know.)