Saturday: A COLD day, but a very warm evening!!!

Oh yeah.....it IS time to head south to warmer temps.......especially in the great climate of the Rio Grande Valley in Texas!!!! We just can't wait....and with these cold, windy days/evenings, our thoughts are on the wonderful friends, incredible food, and GREAT TIMES that are always there in the RGV!!

Today we went to visit Mike.....had a great visit and then returned mid-afternoon.

This evening???? Ahhhhh......it is times like this that make teaching all of you Life worth every minute of it!!! We attended the wedding of two former students/band members here F'town.....Collin Follis and Jenna Yount. It was a very large wedding, but a beautiful one!!

It is amazing how you can only be gone from the school....well, guess it has been 7.5 years....and then you have difficulty putting names with the faces you see. There were a few that I just had to have help with in remembering the names.......and, to be quite honest, they HAD changed soooo much over the years. And.....of course, many, many were married with children. It was really great, though, to see and talk with the former Heather Menteer, Amy Miller, Matt Smith, Travis Rehkop, Derek Smith, Paul Graham, Jeff Firebaugh, Lane Matthews, Nathan Johnson, Nathan Thompson, and many, many more!!!!!!!!!! It was the largest grouping of former students that I have seen at one time in several years......and oh my, soooo enjoyable!

I had several go into great details about how much they had learned from my "hard discipline" in band.....how they hated it at the time.....but how much they had gained and how much it had meant in their adult lives right now!!! THIS is what teaching is all about..........the rewards are not monetary....but, the end results in making a difference in the lives of students as they grow and mature.........and how it can make you feel when they come up and say, "Thanks, Mr H for what you taught me". WHAT a week this has been......!!!!! Emotions from many sources have just about overwhelmed this aging and evolving sagging hulk of Me!!!!!

No doubt about it.........

LIFE IS JUST REALLY, INCREDIBLY GREAT!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!