Food, Friends, and Laughter

This has been a really good Spring Break.  It's another first without Jason eventhough last Spring Break he was in the hospital and wasn't able to spend it with the kids.  This is the first one where he's been REALLY unable to spend it with the kids.  We have a few more weeks until the one year anniversary, so things have begun to be stressful for the kids and myself.  I read that the weeks leading up to the actual day can be trying, so I'm trying to get the kids to talk more about their feelings and we've been going to the cemetery more than we usually do.  It's interesting that when we go the kids usually check out Jason's grave and then go exploring the little creek that runs by his grave. 

This Spring Break the kids and I have done some traveling.  The Thursday we were out, we headed down to Kyle to spend a long weekend with Kevin and his daughters.  I texted Jason's first boss in Little Elm to let her know we were heading down that way and maybe we could come by for a visit.  After some texting back and forth we decided on lunch Friday in Bastrop.  The gentleman who was superintendent when Jason was in Little Elm is now the superintendent in Bastrop and some of the employees that Jason also worked with are now in Bastrop as well.  So, it was a pleasant surprise when the kids and I showed up at the administration building and saw the familiar faces.  We went to a restaurant in downtown Bastrop and all of the people that Jason worked with joined us, even the superintendent.  It was great to see them and find out how they were doing and to let them see how well we are doing.  There were some funny stories about Jason in Little Elm, and I found out that Jason's former principal used stories about him in her trainings.  So his memory is still living on.  She also had a picture collage in her office that had pictures of Jason when they worked together.  Jack and Caroline had a good time listening to some of their memories of their dad.  A couple of times Jack even gave them a look that reminded them of a look Jason would give, and that made him feel wonderful. 

Tonight, I had dinner with an college friend.  We caught up since we haven't seen each other in a few months (we used to get together once a month), and it was nice to sit there and find out how she was doing.  I got some really great ideas from her on classroom management, and it was nice to share some of my frustrations with her.  She'd understand because she's in the trenches with me in the classroom.  It's hard for some people to understand the stress of our jobs, they try but it's hard.

With these events this Spring Break, it was a comforting way to spend the break.  The next few weeks will be difficult, from the standpoint that we're building to the 1 year anniversary.  But we'll get through it, just like we've gotten through this year: with friends and family.