Family

On Saturday morning I received a call from my dad. He told me that his oldest brother had passed away in his sleep Friday night. My dad was upset, but somewhat relieved. My Uncle Ray was given six months to live, about 20 years ago. On Wednesday I decided to make the trip up to Virginia to the funeral and I saw family members that I have not seen since I was a teenager. My dad's family is not very close and for a multitude of reasons, we do not get together much at all. It was great to see everyone and we got to relive some old memories with each other. On the drive home I had plenty of time to reflect. I spend a lot more time with all of you and with our students than I do with my own family. I guess that's somewhat normal for educators. We dedicate so much of our time to school. In a sense we become a family for one another. I saw members of our football team exhibit this on Monday as they carried flowers to the mother of a team member that had lost a parent over the weekend. It was a gesture that seems normal for families and it felt right for them.

Families come in many sizes and in many places. We build bonds with the people we spend the most time with and care about. Like all families, we get on each other's nerves, we can be reluctant to say 'thank you' as much as we should and we take each other for granted at times. At the end of the day, we still help each other and we move on. That's what families do. Sometimes, like it or not, we're stuck with one another. This week I wanted to tell each of you thank you for sticking with me and for being a member of our crazy extended school family. It's nice having each of you with us.