Good Bye, Dr. Johnson, I Had Hoped To Say Thank You

Have you had those days where

the kids can't find matching socks

and they forget library books

and their calluses from playing on the school playground get infected

and the car quits working for the fazillionth time since February

and the dish water splashes from the sink and down the front of your clothes

and you still have dirty dishes

and you have a really hard time concentrating

and you are rushing here and there

and trying to help everyone

and the things you say aren't the things they want to hear

and you are sorry

and the dryer breaks

and you use your brother's car to run to the laundry mat

and you rush to the laundry mat to dry the freshly washed clothes

and three loads of dry and folded and clean clothes dump on the floor of the car as you drive home

and a customer drops by before your ready

and you wonder when you will get the work done

and the dog digs two new holes in the freshly mowed lawn

and it's cold

and your feet are tired

well, actually you are tired

and it gets dark at 5:30 p.m.

and you've been awake since 4:00 a.m.

and the work isn't done

and supper is late

and you burn the rolls

and you've tried all day, really really hard to be friendly

and ALL heart

and more assertive

and inside you feel like acting all frustrated and grouchy

 

but instead you sigh and  try to smile
 a crooked smile,
yes, have you had those days?

 

And you realize that if  this is as bad as it gets, then it's all pretty good?

And you realize you are blessed
 beyond blessed.

 

Because your family is safe

and healthy

and together.

AND you want to cry for a family that you don't even know,

a family that is no longer safely together.

 

You grieve for the way his wife and four children have been left behind.

You grieve for your son, who shared a birthday with his amazing teacher.

AND you realize how deeply this death has affected your son and his fellow engineering students.

And as you grieve and you pray,

 you realize that frustrations are just that...

frustrations...

inconveniences that...

 are nothing in comparison to...

 

a missing husband,

an absent dad, 

a silenced friend

or an empty university podium.

Dr. Johnson's life, lived to short, has moved from the past to the future...

forever.

 

I am thankful for the powerful influence Dr. Johnson has had on our son. 

Just a few weeks of Dr. Johnson's teaching, one partial semester, has made all the difference for him as he pursued his degree.

Early in October, our son was telling us what a wonderful mentor/ teacher he had been though the semester was just off to a good start.

We thought when we met him we could

say

Thank You!

 

 

Instead...

today we pray,

 as family, friends, colleagues and students say a final good-bye,

for now.