Back to the grind

Had a nice day yesterday with Ai Yun. We walked. We talked. We watched a movie. We played cribbage. We had meals. Took a picture to share, but ended up deleting it when I was cleaning out old pictures. Ugh.

Wrapping up my final units in my classes this week and I'll have a bunch of testing to give next week. Four full weeks of classes and then I'll be headed home for five weeks. However, the final couple weeks of classes will get wiped out by other activities. I've got comments due next Monday. That's going to take some serious time this week.

After school today I had a meeting with the principal and a boy that made some bad choices last week. His mom was there and my principal put the screws to him in a calm, deliberate, and caring voice. It wasn't judgmental. It was honest. It was coming from someone that wanted the boy to admit his mistake and go forward. After some tears the boy caved and told his mom what he did. I walked away felling good about how we handled the situation. The boy has some apologies to make. We've got a plan in place. I think his mom will make sure he follows through with it.

I've had a few important conversations with some young men this past week. Be a better person. Apologize. Mean it. Grow. For me the day I grew up the most wasn't so traumatic. It was a day that my perspective was altered beyond what I thought was possible. It was the day I drive home from the hospital with Moira strapped into the back seat of my car. It was a feeling of responsibility that I hadn't experienced up until that point in my life. I wish I could say that I was a "man" from that point forward, but I'm human and still made some bad choices along the way. Live, learn, grow. Damn, a week of drama has caused me to get all philosophical.