Tuesday Slice: White rose

Early Saturday morning, just barely on time for my shift.  I walked down the postpartum hallway, door after door decorated with pink and blue flowers and streamers.  "Must have been a busy week for everyone here," I thought to myself.  Looking ahead, a police officer in black leaned against the wall to the right, the unusual detail catching my attention. He returned my nod and a quiet good morning as I veered right, taking the upward-climbing hallway that led to the NICU.

It's been busy in the NICU the last two weekends, since the Friday the 13th full moon.  I divided my three-hour shift between two babies, holding and shushing and rocking them to sleep.

Relieved of my duty by the next volunteer, I made my way back down the sloping hallway.  Coming to the intersection at the postpartum ward, I noticed the police officer was gone.

There was a single white rose, attached with blue tape to the door across from where he had stood.

A white rose, in a hallway filled with pink and blue.  I paused, said a silent prayer for the mother, for her loss, and drove home in silence.

Tuesday Slice: Family

fam·i·ly

/ˈfam(ə)lē/

noun

1.  a group consisting of parents and children living together in a household.

synonyms: household, ménage

2.  all the descendants of a common ancestor.

"the house has been owned by the same family for 300 years"

synonyms: ancestry, parentage, birth, pedigree, genealogy, background, family tree, descent, lineage, line, line of descent, bloodline, blood, extraction, derivation, race, strain, stock, breed

adjective

designed to be suitable for children as well as adults.

"a family newspaper"

(Google dictionary)

What can divide a family:

Geography

Religion/ politics

Culture

Abuse

Anger

What can connect a family:

Technology

Civility

Traditions

Apologies/ therapy

Love

Tuesday Slice: Before 5am

It's been a day already, even before 5am.

I finally went to sleep last night at a decent hour (930p!)...only to be awakened once, twice, three times a leg cramp. (Apologies to Lionel Ritchie.)

My few minutes of meditation were filled with thoughts of three separate families in my circles currently battling cancer, one with a spouse in the hospital, and one in my neighborhood starting over from a house fire.  Meditation quickly turned into prayer.

My Fitbit wouldn't sync, I had to restart my computer, my email won't refresh on my phone.  Precious minutes wasted trying to get all that working, so I could post this Slice. 

But...

In a few minutes, I'm going to spend time stretching these muscles, which still work.

I have coffee on board, to help ease the sleepiness.

I can continue to support those in need, and be thankful for my own family's health and home.

The tech finally synced and booted up (email still won't refresh, sigh).

And in two hours, there will be students and teachers relying on my support in the library.

Let's get on with this day, shall we?

Tuesday Slice: Sub plans, Parts two & three

Last week, I wrote about having to write sub plans due to jury duty summons.  I compared teaching to other professional jobs which, to the best of my knowledge, don't have to write sub plans prior to taking a day off.  A comment was made that in some positions, you don't get paid when you miss a day; a true statement, one that makes me glad to have a salaried position that allows for jury duty without financial penalty.

But back to the need for sub plans.  If we need even more evidence that teaching is an important job, then the need for sub plans should suffice.  Making sub plans means that what we are doing for our students is important and should be continued in our absence.  Sub plans show that we value continuity and the classroom routines that allow our students to learn efficiently and safely.

If anyone questions the importance of our profession and the value of teachers...don't forget to include sub plans as part of your answer.

********************

About that jury duty...I did make it downtown, early enough to snag a free juror's parking spot across the street from the courthouse.  I worried about bringing a water bottle past security, but they waved it through.  I was greeted by a cheerful clerk sitting at the door of the courtroom, who assigned me a number and directed me to a table of clipboards with forms to fill out.  She frequently came in as more people arrived, telling us to spread out to the tables at the front and make ourselves comfortable.

As the judge entered the room, she directed the two dozen of us to arise--and the judge good-naturedly cut her off, telling us to stay seated.  Judge Thomas then proceeded with instructing us about the nature of this court (Class C infractions, no jail time, financial penalties only), the importance of not using our cell phones in the trial (we needed to be fully present and aware of all the facts being presented), and the importance of our presence.  He explained that there were a couple of cases being deliberated next door, and it was the very presence of a jury that was spurring the opposing parties to settle their cases rather than face us.

The judge left us to monitor the proceedings.  Not long after, he reappeared to let us know the cases had been settled; there would be no trials, and we would be dismissed.  Before doing so, he spoke fervently on the importance of voting, and how easily we can be disenfranchised from doing so by the misspelling of a name on our voter registration card, or changing our address.  He encouraged us to update our cards if need be, at the clerks' windows downstairs.  

My call time for duty was 1:30p.  We were dismissed by 2:15p.  I had gone to jury duty with a bit of a sour attitude, but the clerk's pleasantries and Judge Thomas' explanation of our role as jurors--even if we don't go to trial--and his passionate belief in our democratic processes lifted my spirits.  And you can bet I'll be voting in the next election.