Emuers,
Summer is here but it did not get off to a very good start, sadly very similar to last year. The beginning of the '05 summer saw a former baseball player and CHS grad get killed in a car accident and then not even a month later, a current CHS student and athlete was also killed in a car wreck. Well, this year, we dodged a bullet in late April when one of our finest 10th graders was critically hurt (and may never play sports again!) but not killed due to wearing a safety belt when he collided head on with another car. Unfortunately, on our last teacher day of the year, we all received word that another 10th grader and former student/ballplayer of mine committed suicide at his home during the night. This was a huge shock to all of us as he was one of the happiest and funniest guys we knew. He always helped others and his smile was what many called "contagious". It hit me hard, as any student death would, but harder than some of the others. Others? Sadly, I have taught here for 5 years and stood by as 7 students or former students have died, none by drugs or alcohol. Since Lucas's death, my life has been crazy and it has been a long summer already, but in honor of Lucas, I will do what he always did: find a way to laugh and look at the situation from a positive point of view. So Lucas...here's my best shot at "the positive approach"
** Jack's 7 day virus which saw us visiting doctor's 3 times, almost to the ER once, almost an IV, and a record setting 48 minutes straight of crying. Oh yeah, and an 8% drop in body weight.
**Positive? We are much closer to our insurance deductible, I ate Jack's extra food, and I appreciated my baseball games much more!
** My baseball team. We are now 4-12 overall, 0-8 for the "B" team. We have given up 11, 12, and 15 runs in single "innings" and are attempting to bounce back from a 21-0 loss and an 18-0 loss. By the way...those games were played in 4 innings and 2 innings respectively!
**Positive? Exercise for my players! Increase inself-esteem for the opponents, I have a nice suntan, I appreciate Jack more (he would start on this team), and I now have reasons to drink at 3:00 in the afternoon and do not feel as badly about spiking my gatorade in the coach's box. Also...just yesterday I got to watch the opposing pitcher get the last out and scream "Coach...we won!!!" and then tackle his catcher. Ahh...making the other team happy...there is no better feeling in the world!
**Broken house: AC broke yesterday, Garage door broke 2 weeks ago, water and clocks are still haunted (no joke...no clock on our main floor has worked in the 3 years we have lived here), and we put a box spring through our basement wall when moving it.
**Positive? Got a chance to install a Boeing 747 engine that I got through owning company stock finally in place of our AC. We love it...a chilly 43 degrees at all times inside now. Haven't seen the cats since, we think they got blown through our screen. As for clutter...we just sweep it into the engine and poof...gone! Garage door being broken = permanent garage sale. No takers on the car but our garage surpisingly looks much cleaner. Finally....our hole in the wall....makes a nice spot for a house plant. Also a good place to stuff cash that will be used to pay all the people that will eventually fix our problems. Once these are fixed, things will be looking so good we plan to again address the flooding issue and get all new basement carpet since the last batch (#2) never got treated. I love this happy thing!
**Lastly...since Lucas loved baseball and thought my Royals were horrible....my Royals. They are horrible, but think...
**Positive? Finally, a good chance to break a record: most losses ever. And hey, if I weren't a diehard fan, I wouldn't get so ticked at how bad my teams are and turn to fantasy sports. Now I have a fantasy sport addiction and could care less how my teams do. I have also talked with my wife alot more since she enjoys my nightly "Guess how my 9th grade and the Royals lost today" conversation. I usually swear and throw a remote, but I wake up ready to go again the next day. We thought about having my 9th graders play the Royals for a fundraiser for the blind, deaf, or disabled, but those 3 groups have all beaten my 9th graders this year already so we are tired of helping them! Oh well, think positive....if the Cubs can win once every hundred years, than the Royals should get one here in the next 20-40 years! YEAH! There...positive thinking does help. It's even raining out and ending our 41-day dry spell! We may even get rained out tomorrow which means no wins...but also no LOSSES!!! I pray that I do not have to attend a student funeral in my final 30 years here, especially not for a kid like Lucas who had so much going for him. I will miss you Lucas...take care.
Love&prayers,
Ben
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