Friday, February 15, 2008

Teaching Myself


I have a student teacher this semester. We have assigned a project that we call a "decades project." The students are assigned different decades in US history and through their research they can find the political, social, and cultural aspects of that decade and report on them to their classmates. It is a great way of finding out about the different aspects of each decade we will study and it forces the students to help teach the decade.


One of the students asked me today about the 40s and its music. I told her about the swing era and how much fun it was to listen and dance to the music of Glenn Miller and other big bands. She was very interested in the music and dancing of the era. I found myself telling her a personal story.


My daughter has always loved music and dancing. When she was very young, about 5, my wife and I and her parents took our kids to a theme park. We went to a show that included swing music. My father-in-law is a WWII veteran. He loves to dance and especially loves swing music.


I told my student about my father-in-law dancing with his grand daughter to the music in the show. It was really cool that the other people at the show all were loving the two of them dancing to the music. They watched and clapped to song after song as my daughter and her grandpa danced. At the time it was hard not to cry as I watched them. My daughter was so thrilled and her grandpa was too.


These are memories of my daughter that flood my mind as I try to deal with her MS. As I thought about this memory I pledged to never give up in the search for a cure for her and all people inflicted with this disease. This represented an epiphany for me. I want to remember all the good things about my daughter that have made me love her with all my heart. I can accept whatever happens and I am going to work for the best for her.


I will always try to remember the soccer games and the dancing. That is what I can do for her.

4 comments:

AmPowerBlog said...

Beautiful post.

Hope you're doing well.

Unknown said...

Glad you're back. There's a movie that's particularly apt to what you describe: Last of the Blonde Bombshells, one of those movies nobody's seen. After her husband dies, our lead, who was a member of a swing band during WW2 called the Blonde Bombshells, starts playing the sax again. Granddaughter wants her to get the band back together to play for her school dance. Great movie, great story, great cast. Judi Densch, Olympia Dukakis, Leslie Caron, Ian Holm, and Cleo Laine. Check it out.

Texas Truth said...

Keep staying positive. That will make things better. Take care. You and your family are in my thoughts.

Law and Order Teacher said...

Thanks to all who have posted. I am learning to cope, a skill at which I am not very good. This will test my ability to adjust. I am used to controlling events, not the other way around. I'm working on it. Thanks again to everyone.