Even though it’s my birthday week, I am not talking about the type of sobering that involves alcohol. . . Craig was laid off last night at 7:05 and we spent the evening shell-shocked and anxious. No matter how much we tried to stay optimistic, or prayed, or made bitter jokes about how he could spend his time, the reality of not having a job really hit home.
That event made me think about a lot of things: marrying sooner than June, how to put him on my insurance plan if we did, moving somewhere if he found a job, and then of course Teach For America, and my students.
You see, this week was also exam week, and one of the essay prompts in my Literature classes asked my students to explain why they think Obama’s election is a memorable historical event and if they have seen “Change” yet. If so, how, yada yada. SO many of them wrote their essays about how they think Obama will turn the economy around, and about how “so many people been affected by the bad economy.” As 14 year-olds, I think they had a better understanding of that reality than I do at 23. That in and of itself is sobering.
With having a roof over my head, warm food in my belly, and a never-ending supply of love in my life, I hope and pray that my students can have the same. (Maybe it would help them focus on school a little more!)
What a reflection! It is interesting reading this one week after all this happened and know that Craig does still have his job. This was no picnic for the short time it lasted, and it made me ever more grateful, like you said at the end, for all the things in life I am so blessed to have. (But unfortunately take for granted–what a Privilege issue.)
I wonder what your students are saying, and will say in the weeks to come, about the economic stimulus plan and if they will directly benefit or not…