I am looking forward to the next few weeks. Reading through a couple of fat chick sites where folks post their ups and downs and their before and after pictures has a way of enlightening me. The excitement in their face and eyes tells the whole story. Soon, that will be this face and these eyes!
For years I taught middle school kiddos. Yep, I enjoyed it because I felt so many of those students could be impacted even with a single smile on a given day. That was back in the 80's when things were nicer than these days. There were still kiddos who respected you because their parents had taught them the value of that trait.
In 1989, I began Weight Watchers with a dear 'best friend' from campus. It's better when ya have a fat sista to go through stuff with ya! Anyhow, we went religiously, ate our pretzels, jello and weighed our portions. It was fun and it was always great to step on the scale and see it register a loss!
Little did I know that following Fall how my new changes would impact kids lives. I had dropped 45 pounds by August and it was a new me. I had my big 'ol smile back in place, energy to let (heaven help them all) and nothin' but trouble a brewin'! School started, kids showed up and not a word was said. Ok, I thought. I guess it doesn't show as much as I thought it did!
A couple of months passed and I stepped out of my room late one day to see a mom sitting in a chair, quietly waiting for her 8th grade daughter to show up. We spoke and she complimented me and said, "Ms. Freedman, do you know what an impact you've had on your students with this change?" I smiled and shrugged my shoulders, answering, "what are you talking about?"
"Your weight loss! It has excited all of these 8th graders and helped them understand that they can make change and do whatever they make up their minds to do!" I was in shock! My reply was, "but not one student has said a word to me about it!" The reason? The mom shared it was all the talk of the entire 8th grade, but they weren't sure they should say anything.
They noticed the body change, the smile back in place, my demeanor and my sense of ME...I CAN..and I DID! When I assured that mom I'd welcome the kids comments, whilickers -- the next day and week were fun and shocking. Those students fed their thoughts and impressions to me non-stop until it was all out on the table! My only thought was...and all of this because I made a change in my life that showed on the outside? By the end of the school year, I was -117 pounds!
Bottom line, I was not blessed with children of my own. That was okay, I had about 8,000 of them by the time my career ended. Being a part time mom, counselor, aunt, friend, teacher and more certainly fulfilled many cracks in my armour. Those students enriched my life on many days and today it's so neat to hear someone say, "hello, Ms. Freedman, I know you don't know my name, but I was in your class!!!" What a nice feeling to know that students from years past will take time to acknowledge you, tell you what you meant in their lives and share a few moments of reflections and 'catch up.'
I left the classroom. I left the profession, via retirement. However, I still work with educators and find that many of my Interns become somewhat attached to me through our visits and my comments shared over the course of a semester. Having an Intern send an email thanking me for strong words of encouragement and for recognizing their skill and strong suites is just as good as those 8th graders back at Humble Middle School.
In the coming months, I'm going to watch and listen to see how my new change effects any of them. I'll share their thoughts...I know it will be fun!
Preparing for this surgery has brought many new professionals into my life lately. And me? Well, I always do or say something that puts a smile on their face! That's just Pat...always has been, always will be. But, guess tomorrow morning, I can't make them smile...I'LL BE ASLEEP!
Nite, nite ya'll!!
