Remembering and Orange Birthday Wishes

I would say, that after all these years, I'm the realist in my marriage...
TL is the romantic, interestingly, not me.

When I met him, I thought he was a Forest Ranger-
seriously-
I did.

It's one of the first of a lifetime of ridiculous Esther/Tony stories that we have floating around out there.
I had
n.o.
c.l.u.e.
about what he really did for a living.
I learned fast.

This life, we live, isn't for everyone-

TL tells me I should always have hope.
(I can be Debbie Downer, I'm not proud of it, but I know my own evil.)
He's right.
There should always be a glimmer of hope.
Maybe that's why I stay in the classroom with my littles-they're too small to be jaded by politics, prices, and pundits.
The world is a small place for them; save knowing that Iraq and Afgahnistan take their parents far away, for long periods of time-hopefully, not forever.
They find joy in little people things, and, I get that. I like that.

In my classroom today, I had no idea what to expect...so...
Today we read my special book "On September 12th We Knew Everything Would Be Alright" It makes me cry when I read it aloud, but it makes me feel better.
Today we celebrated the 7th birthday of a little guy in my classroom by making him a birthday book filled chock full to the brim of "Happy Birthday Wishes." His classmates asked him what his favorite color was-
orange.
He got lots and lots of orange wishes.
Today we made our own American flags, and some of my littles, sang the national anthem as they glued down their colored strips.

It was a long day, but it was a happy day.
We were all full of hope today in my classroom-it was nice, it was good, it was right to do.

Today, the country, our country, my country-their country-remembers.
Tomorrow, we hope that the world our world, my world-their world-moves one step closer to being a better place for all mankind.

It was the best orange birthday wish that I could hope to come true-ever-
Karen and Jeremy, we remember.

umarmen und lieben
essie