All day on New Years Eve, I kept thinking that I need to go upstairs and do my NYE reflection. And all day I just couldn't. I haven't been in a writing mode very much at all this year, and I'm not sure why. I did a ton of reading, so maybe my brain wanted to exercise intake rather than output, I don't know.
Whatever the reason, I want to do a late reflections on 2022. Just for myself, just to leave here so I can revisit it later.
What a year. My calendar years are never neat and tidy, because the school year breaks them into two parts, and so there is seldom any sort of thread that can be traced through an entire calendar year and this one is no different.
The first half of 2022 was a continuation of the last half of 2021 as far as school years go and... holy cow. We kept a written record (that we left a TON of stuff off of because the absurd was so dang commonplace that eventually we didn't even notice it, to be honest) of that school year because no one would ever believe it was real. My students, my classes? AMAZING. Everything else? No words. (There are, but lots of them I can't publicly reflect on, haha.) I'll just leave this statistic right here: My department of 11 in August had lost 6 teachers by May. We started the 2022 school year with 6 teachers who were brand new to CHS (two of whom had come in January, but still). I think CHS hired like 30-something new teachers for the 2022-2023 school year and the middle school was almost as high. The first half of 2022 was spent professionally just wondering WHAT is happening, HOW do we fix it, and CAN I outlast it. I will say that I found something beautiful inside of myself, something that knew without a shadow of a doubt that I'm where I'm supposed to be and that I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to do. I can tighten the belt and still be fine because when you're doing the Lord's work, He equips you. And that's how I see my job, truly. Once I came to that re-realization, I was in a good place and I've been in a good place professionally for the second half of 2022. In fact, a wonderful place. I've accepted a new-old leadership role, I've mentored new teachers, and I've taken on two new classes in 2022 (one was English II Honors just for the one spring class and it was SO AWESOME and the other was yearbook on my planning period during the second half of the fall semester, and I have it full time now and it's been wonderful). It's really wild, what has started to happen in some ways, and that is that I seem to be returning to my teaching roots a little bit. I have 8 years left and it's starting to feel like I may finish this thing out in many of the same ways I started it. And that's awesome.
The first half of 2022 brought the highest of highs for a few kids, the lowest of lows for another, and some challenges for another. We had a week in April/May when, and this is totally bragging I guess but it is what it is, for three days in a row, every single day a huge honor or award came to one of our three high schoolers. Angela was named JRTOC Cadet Corps Commander for her upcoming senior year, Kelsey was voted Student Body Vice-President for her upcoming senior year, and Roman won literally like 5 or 6 of the local scholarships at Senior Night. A few weeks before that week, Kelsey and Angela were selected to be the two juniors to attend Girls' State and Roman was awarded the Rymer Gold Scholarship. Those were the highest highs we could have dreamed of, and the Lord truly gave all that we ask or imagine. In March, though, and on into April, we faced a really difficult situation with one of our children and, for a period of time, we didn't even know where he was. I never imagined myself parenting in something like that, and I guess in a lot of ways I have been shown that it doesn't matter who you are or what you've done or what you believe or how you live, we are every one susceptible to being shown that you can do everything possible and sometimes it's still not enough, because your kids have free will.
The second half of 2022 has brought the most awesome senior year for our two youngest. They are carpeing the diem, they are leading well, they are doing awesome in school, Kelsey was voted Homecoming Queen, and Angela got two nominations to the Air Force Academy and one to the Naval Academy (still waiting to see if she gets either appointment). Emma had an incredible first semester of her sophomore year and is flourishing at UTC. Roman learned that college is a lot different from high school and had some major stress and close calls with his grades, but he squeaked by and kept those scholarships. And Francisco is doing really well, working landscaping and becoming more like his old happy self.
Kraig freaking wrote on a piece of paper on January 1, 2022, that he wanted to run a marathon and on October 9, 2022, he did it. In Chicago. The Chicago marathon. Because if you're going to go, why not go BIG. :) I'm just so proud of him for battling his diabetes (and conquering it), and showing our kids what it means to be disciplined and dedicated and driven. He ran late at night so as not to miss family time, he ran while a kid biked, he trained, and he did it. He will tell you that, due to an injury during the race, he did not finish anywhere near where he would have liked, so he's not finished with marathons. He had to try again.
The second half of 2022 brought a tremendous loss on Thanksgiving Day, when one of our closest families from our young married/young parenting days, were in a car accident and two of them were killed. The horror from that middle of the night phone call with my friend will never fade for me. The memorial service at the college freshman's college, the double funeral in Canton... I just sat there in shock that it was really happening and that my friend and her surviving daughter were somehow finding the strength to put one foot in front of the other. My heart remains crushed for the two of them.
I had a really good year as far as self-discipline and organization and goals. I tracked everything, which always helps me, and was able to see what worked and what didn't. There were definitely emotional ups and downs, but the time from May to December was a period of mostly level ground, which is the best.
My very favorite part of my personal life this year is that I started a new job, a side job working as a travel advisor! It's been a lot different than I expected (and, frankly, a lot harder), but MAN when it works, does it ever work! I'm finally getting the hang of it, I think, and it's a ton of fun. I hope it ends up being something I can do in retirement as well.
Speaking of travel... we did Congaree National Park in February while Emma went to see a friend at USC (kayaked it!), Mammoth Cave in March (just me and the three high schoolers-- had a blast!), Kelsey had Girls State week at Lipscomb, Shenandoah National Park and DC and Annapolis in June (Angela was accepted to the Naval Academy Summer Seminar so we made a trip of it when we took her), CMAFest with Kelsey in June (we benefitted from the kindness and generosity of an amazing friend and got to have VIP passes with some other CHS kids and moms), Bear Paw several times, took the camper to Pigeon Forge (also, we got a camper!), in September Kraig and I went on an anniversary cruise to New England, in October for fall break the two high schoolers and Kraig and I did the first half of the week in the Keys (Everglades NP and Biscayne, Dry Tortugas was canceled due to the hurricane damage) and the second half in Chicago for the marathon (and Indiana Dunes NP), I took Angela and Roman to Tupelo for him to hang with his girlfriend and Angela and I had a blast, Kelsey went to Florida for fall retreat, and then we all went to WV in November and December. SUCH a great year of stealing every moment we could to make a memory.
Spiritually, this was a year where I definitely leaned on the Lord frequently, but I am sorry to say that it was NOT a year of walking closely beside Him every day. I mean, I did, but I didn't commit the time to regular study and His word, and I intend to fix that this year in 2023. Even still, He showed me so many things and He took care of us so well.
My 2022 word was "Shivelight", which means rays of light that pierce through a canopy of trees. I vowed in January 1 to spend the coming year looking for the light, even when it was dark. I would say, especially as I think back on it now, that Shivelight was the perfect word for this year. It was so bright at times, but so dark at others. And I truly did train myself to always look for the light, which was very helpful when I was living the hardest school year known to man and had a kid whose whereabouts were unknown. I wish He had not decide to give me so many opportunities to practice it, but I am surely glad for those rays that pierced the darkness.
We spent some time on one of the last days in 2022 driving to a mountaintop to do a quick hike (short but totally uphill) right at sunset. I had read that the sunset from there is astounding and that was the perfect weather day for a great sunset. I told my people to take warm clothes and shoes they could walk in, and that we would use flashlights to come down. What I did NOT take into account was that there was still snow on the ground on this mountain from the WV snows a week or so earlier. And so, the awesome and amazing idea and plan was completely thwarted as we slipped and slid around on a mountainside, trying to get to the top to see the reward. Instead, because I was afraid someone would get hurt (and probably that that someone would be me), we decided to give up and return (carefully) to the car. It was a good laugh and fun bonding experience, no one (including me) truly felt cheated of the sunset. But from below, through the trees, we could see the glorious light from that sunset. We didn't get the full picture, but we got the rays. And sometimes, as 2022 showed me, the rays will have to be enough.
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