I know it's been quite some time since the last post. This year has been more difficult to keep up for sure. You see, I'm down a staff member at school, because of some wonderful equations the district uses to figure out staffing, specifically in music and art. Because we lost so many students at the end of last year, and over the summer, I'm now back to "holding down the fort" on my own again. I should be used to it, I guess. I mean, out of my almost 17 years of teaching at CCES, I've been solo for at least 12 of them. Maybe it's age, maybe responsibilities both personal and professional, but it's just harder, more time consuming than it used to be. I try to still have fun, try to instill the love of art and all things associated in the children, try to make kids culturally aware. I think I'm successful. Some days are better than others. But there's always a lack of time, for planning, for grading, for reflection, for assessment. But I digress...
The last month has been particularly rough. It started with the death of my wife's grandmother. She passed away early in the morning, on the Monday before Thanksgiving. It's not as though it wasn't expected. She had been in the hospital since early October. She went in initially for bronchitis/pneumonia symptoms. That later turned out to be lymphoma throughout her lungs. She already suffered from COPD, sleep apnea, and general difficulties from aging, after all she was going on 87. But it's a phone call that you don't want to get, a reality you don't want to confront. You may say, " She wasn't your grandmother." And you'd be correct. But she was more of a grandmother to me in the 17 years I knew her than my own were to me. And especially over the last 5+ years, since my own two grandmothers have been battling dementia/Alzheimer's. But that's a whole other story for another time and place. Not only did I see her every Summer, as my wife and kids would visit her while I would take classes. After my classes would conclude, I'd meet up with Melissa and the kids in Kentucky. But my wife would talk to her on the phone everyday, and she was always up to date on what was happening with my children. It was imperative that we make the funeral. The problem was making the trek to KY in the middle of Thanksgiving, especially because of parent/teacher conferences. Also, as we embarked that Tuesday, it was still up in the air exactly when the arrangements would be because of the holiday. So we wouldn't be sure until we arrived from our long drive. Luckily, the HCPSS grants me five days of bereavement leave for the loss of immediate family of a spouse. We made the drive, all 10+ hours, and the arrangements were Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. We spent Thanksgiving day with the maternal side of my wife's family (her grandmother that died was her paternal). It was nice, since we don't get the chance to do that ever, but you couldn't ignore the reason that we were truly in KY. So it hurt...a lot. Reminders were all around us while driving around KY of Mamaw, as well as stories being told right and left about her life, character, and love for others. As if things weren't bad enough, grieving for Mamaw, upon our arrival home, our son became quite ill. He was already suffering from a sinus infection that was diagnosed prior to our travels. The antibiotic played trouble with his stomach the entire time we were gone. However, somehow he came down with mono, and that just took the life right out of him. He was dehydrated, achy, feverish, lethargic, drowsy, you name it, he had it. Unfortunately there's not much you can do to fight mono, except fluids, ibuprofen, etc. He had a short stay at Johns Hopkins to get IV fluids and to be observed awhile. But he missed school for 7 days overall from the mono, 9 if you count the funeral, etc. This also meant that I missed two weeks total from school because of having to help take care of our son, help get my daughter to school, etc. Luckily, he's doing much better now, but it's always dangerous when he gets sick because of his severe cough-variant asthma and his heart condition (SVT). Every little germ effects him so much. So it was a long two weeks, emotionally, psychologically, professionally, etc., you name it. It's something I don't want to repeat for sure. I felt behind at work in a myriad of areas, grading, planning, goals, ordering, etc. I missed two major county deadlines, the majority of parent/teacher conferences, and the conferences for my own children as well. I'm still playing catch up at school and home. My heart still hurts, as does the rest of the family. Our son has had a particular hard time. He still cries from time to time at night, needing consoling in bed. Mamaw's birthday would have been 12/27. Our laundry is overflowing, and to top it all off my wife was just diagnosed with Flu A. Hopefully, it won't ruin the holidays. The hits just keep on coming. We'll keep our heads up high, and do the best we can. It's all we can do after all.
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B.D.SchmittHusband, Father, Archives
November 2015
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