Most Of Us

 I got a start on the list of people with whom I have worked at my school the other day. That first group, the one that I came in with, so full of hope and promise. More than half of us were brand new, not just to the school, but to the teaching profession. 

Some of us ended up sticking around. 

Some of us did not. 

From time to time, I find myself in our book room, searching for curriculum that has drifted into the vortex that is our storage and history bin. While looking for that one copy of a math workbook for the new student who came to us out of the blue, I sometimes pass by the shelf with all the photos. Albums full of class pictures, staff portraits and memories of days gone by. There was a time when this was the timeline by which I could measure my tenure. 

Not anymore. Now I remember those who have passed through these halls anecdotally. "Remember that guy who wanted to teach Moby Dick to fourth graders?" Or "What about that second grade teacher who wanted to adopt one of her students, taking him to boxing matches on the weekends?" 

And so on. 

There were those who came and stayed. For a while. The first grade teacher who, over the summer, morphed into an elementary fascist and completed his tour here by telling a kid to stand in a trash can because that's what he was. Trash. And the small group of folks who left for the weekend and never came back. 

Those of us who have stayed continue to do the job for which we signed up. And more. We pull together when we are short-staffed. We do the extra things that make it a school, not just a place to go for eight to ten hours a day, waiting for that settlement to come in. 

A year ago at Christmas, another old-timer gave me a water bottle in our gift grab. It had a picture of me from 1997. Full of confidence. And hope. With hair. So many of my fellow teachers have gone the way of my hair. I have not kept track of all of them. Hair or people. 

I know I have written about this before. I know that I probably will again. It continues to amaze me the way that we all come back. Most of us, anyway.