Sometimes I will end the day with thoughts that are
important to get out. Usually I just
write them and put them in my journal folder.
I have chosen that on occasion I will share them with you Dear Reader.
This past Sunday one of my students passed away. I will not name him out respect for his
family and their privacy. He was twenty-four
and his heart failed. My youngest Son is
twenty-five. I cannot imagine the pain
of losing him. It is hard enough to live
without seeing him every day. Two
parents who love their son will bury him this week.
This student loved his parents. He talked often about them and how supportive
they were of his desire to better his life.
He worried over his father’s health and even took some time off from
school to help care for him. This young
man was moving away from the errors of his past to the bright future he had as
a networker.
He was intelligent and kind.
He and I would talk often to bolster his confidence and urge him to keep
trying. He would often point out other
students who were struggling and say “go give them an ‘I believe in you talk’. That is what they need.”
He was quiet and always sat off to himself in class. He was terrified of standing in front of
class to present but last week, his last day in my class he conquered that fear
after dodging the task for weeks. He had
great potential.
I wept when I heard that he had passed. I weep for his family now as I write
this. I love all of my students but it
is the ones who have to work hard to succeed who really get anchored in my
heart. This week as I told the rest of
the class about his passing I wept again.
Tonight I sit quietly missing a student who will not graduate or finish
his course. I have a drink at hand and
will raise a glass to him once I post this.
We have lost something with the passing of this
student. The networking world needs his
kindness and compassion. More I have
lost something. I will always see him in
the last chair in lab one. I will know
how much effort he put into that work station learning and growing. I will recall how much faith he put in me to believe
that he could become something. The true
calling of teaching was realized in our endeavors. For that I am a better man. With his passing I am also diminished. His empty chair will speak to me and
encourage me to be even better for my students.
No man is an island,
entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If
a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory
were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's
death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send
to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee. – Meditation XVII - John Donne
Wishing you joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer
who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home
owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure
store."
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