Friday, November 8, 2013

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 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.




2 comments:

Sherry at The Rusty Pearl said...

Very sweet of you and very thoughtful. I loved it and my heart definitely TUGGED for he and his family. My prayers are with them . Beautiful soul, Beautiful post my friend. GOD BLESS YOU

Donnie Pirtle said...

WOW! So beautifully spoken. I will pray for them today. We are blessed having God.