An Awesome Week

[pdlloyd]

This has been an awesome week. I've observed multiple classes, giving me the opportunity to observe almost all the other instructors at the school. Each has a different teaching style, but all are effective with their students. It's amazing, really. For, instance, it had never occurred to me that someone could make the subject of medical billing

Comments

[heleninwales]

Thank you for sharing. You're right. We can't always know what's going on in someone's life and sometimes people are struggling against almost overwhelming odds and we never get to know, apart from occasions like the presentations.

[pdlloyd]

Even though I knew that intellectually, getting to know these students has really opened my eyes to some of the challenges the people around me may be facing. :)

[asakiyume]

It *can* be so hard to remember--we do try, but I know in my own case (and I'm sure it's true for others too), sometimes I'm less patient or empathetic than I should be... sometimes it almost seems like chance or a blessing that empathy should happen at all... but worth working on

Life is so dynamic, it's always changing; we're never allowed to *stop*--no laurel resting! But on the other hand, we're never trapped forever with our bad situations or our bad ways, either. We're always able to change and adjust and try again and try new.

[pdlloyd]

Yes! I think a big part of seeing others, is being about to see ourselves. We know that we're not always as patient or empathetic as we wish we were, so maybe it will help us to remember, when someone else responds sharply to something we've said or done, that they may be having a bad day and may wish they could take back their words. But, I know you've got a kind and empathetic heart. Truly, I think most of us do, although if we've encountered too much personal pain and suffering, it may be very difficult for us to express.

Life is so dynamic, it's always changing; we're never allowed to *stop*--no laurel resting! But on the other hand, we're never trapped forever with our bad situations or our bad ways, either. We're always able to change and adjust and try again and try new.

Yes! We do keep learning and growing, and that can be tiring, but it's also a source of hope and renewal. Redemption, not in some other life, but in this one, is possible.

[asakiyume]

And I just realized that Aperts Syndrome is what the older son of a neighbor of mine from my grad student days had. He'd be the same age as my oldest son, I believe.

Wow, memories....

Now there is a person I wish I had been more supportive of. I was always friendly but distant... she even moved out to this area, as I recall. I wonder where she and her son and daughter are now. I wonder if she got divorced or stayed married....

[pdlloyd]

Apert's is so rare! The student who has it has only met four other people with it, some of them children.

Now there is a person I wish I had been more supportive of.

My, do I understand that!

When my children were small and we lived way out in the country in Virginia, our next door neighbors had a child with a condition in which the bones are incredibly brittle. I met the father, but he discouraged me from ever visiting the home, and especially from bringing my boys with me, for fear that we might accidentally hurt his little girl. I'm not sure I ever even met his wife and I really wish I'd found a way to offer her support, even if it wasn't by visiting. We could have spoken on the phone, or even found a way to let the children interact while also keeping them physically separate. By the time Ian was five, he could have read stories to the girl, and he would have loved to do so.