Goodbye For Now
There’s a cardboard sign on my office wall that says “Home”. The word is scribbled in pen, and it’s well used, bent in different places. One of my...
Jazzy’s Whiteboard Words
Being fifteen isn’t easy. Homework piles up, parents gets stressed about grades, friends create drama, and in the midst of all that noise, life...
The Empty Desk
Connections make life meaningful. They’re the catalyst for relationships, the reason people choose certain jobs, and a great way to make a boring...
Mackenzie’s Request
There used to be a hideous, blue line of tape running down the middle of the hallway at my school. All last year, students were told to stay on one...
Nightmare on I-70
Icy, snow-packed roads didn’t used to scare me. Living in Colorado, I got used to driving in winter weather—maybe a little too used to it. But that...
Reaching My Limit
I’m weak. There are limits to what I can do, and I’m becoming more aware of that as I get older. In the middle of a good conversation with a...
The Rescue
Anxiety is a difficult thing to shake. It sneaks up on me when the bus headed to camp is ready to go, engine humming, and I realize my wife drove...
Whispers in the Dark
The day after our daughter Hope was born, I was afraid. The nurses wheeled her into the hospital room, and the two of us looked at each other in the...
The Story I Told the Police
The Police Department had questions about Nathan, a former student of mine. He was one of those students who stood out. His smile was infectious,...
Chaos in the Classroom
“My mom was stabbed!” Mckayla shouted. Her words shocked everyone in the classroom, including me, but with Mckayla, I was used to shock. The week...