New Beginnings, Lamenting Goodbyes

Most of the readers of our blog have heard the news already, but for those who haven't, the 'Megan Show' is relocating to a different neighborhood. One 350 miles to the North. The above picture was taken during a recent road trip to Holland, Michigan where the Parsons clan will be moving. Jillian was rewarded for her great achievements with Nestle-Purina and they promoted her to be the team leader for the Mid-America division of the company. We are all ecstatic about her advancement.

So over the course of the next few weeks you may be seeing lots of pictures of Megan 'helping' with preparing for the big move. Our timeline has us in the West Michigan area in mid-January, so look for tales of sledding, snowblowing, and attending Hope College basketball games in the future.

While this is the best news for our family personally, it is leaving a gaping hole in my life professionally. I have informed my school of my resignation at the end of the semester, and last week broke the news to my AP class. In a class of 16 students, I think there were 10 or so of us crying. Some of those 16 kids I've taught for 3 of their 4 years, some are Megan's babysitters, and all of them, because of the size of our school are kids that have shared a bond with me in some shape or form. I cannot tell you how profoundly that moment affected me. I was sure that moment, albeit painful, could not be matched from my students as a sign of respect and rapport we had built.

Until today.

Because of how painful it was to 'say goodbye' (truth be told I had to read a letter I wrote to the class b/c of my emotions) to them, I decided I couldn't do that for each of my classes and decided to let word filter around school like I was sure it would. In the past week some of the surliest students have come to me and said how much they would miss me. I was stunned. But today in teaching my other senior class, a few of them protested and asked if they did X, Y, or Z would I stay until the end of the year. While a nice gesture, I told them that making my wife or myself a de-facto single parent for the next four months would be impossible for either of us. Then one of them suggested a 'sign-up sheet' for Megan which  would entail getting a different student to sign up each day to watch Megan for me so I could plan/grade after school. 

I laughed a little at the thought, but then a chorus of the students thought it was a great idea and were set to make the sign-up sheet right then. That's when I was amazed. For these students to offer up themselves to a little girl who most had never met (albeit a precious little girl), save for seeing my 'picture of the week' on my computer's desktop, as a symbol for how they felt about me was staggering.

When I left the professional world to embark on a teaching career close to six years ago I did so with the hope that somehow I would 'make a difference' with as many students as I could, but with the realistic goal of a few every year. It was a naive, narrow-sighted vision because I had absolutely no idea how it was going to happen. And I know not every kid is shedding a tear over my leaving, but the words/actions of the ones who did have given me the best present this holiday season. 

I tell this story to act as a placeholder to remind me to share the stories of my students with Megan and to inspire her with anecdotes of their stories. And to pray that the teachers she has as she grows up will affect her in a positive way too.