Be careful out there

Molly S. and Kate at graduation, May '08

This is a picture of my daughter Kate and her best friend MollyS. The reason best friend Molly has a special suffix to her name is because of our Molly. Believe it or not, MollyS. has an older sister named Katherine/Katie. You can see how it becomes pretty confusing. Also, Patty, Molly and Katie (and Joseph's) mother is one of my best friends and the sister of my heart. Yesterday morning she was in a serious car accident. It happened in our residential neighborhood. Someone driving a van (and in a hurry) ran a stop sign at a high rate of speed and hit her as she was crossing the intersection. She is in the hospital today, in the pic-unit (one below intensive care) with a fractured ankle, fractured pelvis, internal bleeding, spinal fractions, neck traction and a host of other less serious injuries. She is going to be fine and I know she is receiving the best of care. Her doctor husband promised me :). The guy who hit her walked away from the accident. According to our dog walking neighbors, the van driver had been reported for speeding before. This time it looks like they caught him. Too bad someone had to pay the price. Please pray for Patty's recovery. Pray for her family. And pray for the van driver. Please be extra careful with you and yours today. I love you all.

The End.....(for now)

Well, year 26. It's done. Over. Finished. Fini. It's hard to believe I have taught school this long. It's really remarkable to me because every September it's a new beginning. It's just like starting again. I haven't done anything for 26 years in a row, except breathe! I can't believe I have it in me to stick with anything this long. I've been a sister my whole life, an aunt for 31 years, a student for 19 years, married for 20 years (this time:), been a mother for (nearly) 19, ...you get the idea. I have taught school over half of my life! YIKES!!! I've been teaching sooo long that now parents are asking me, "Mrs. Loar...How much longer do you think you'll be doing this?" That line always cracks me up...."doing this," like I might be involved in some type of nefarious or shady occupation. Anyway, the answer.....until it quits being fun. Until it quits being rewarding. Until I no longer have the passion and excitement to teach. When September rolls around I'll be there.....one more time.

I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge--

That myth is more potent than history.

I believe that dreams are more powerful than facts--

That hope always triumphs over experience--

That laughter is the only cure for grief.

And I believe that love is stronger than death.

Robert Fulghum

Home again? (Happy Mother's Day)

Founder's Hall-Heidelberg College

Wow! David and I just spent the better part of yesterday packing Kate's "stuff" to bring her back home after her first year at college. Well! It took about four hours longer than I thought it would, and she had ten times the amount of "stuff" to bring home than she took with her last August. You know, when they were little I thought a lot about the two of them leaving for college one day. I thought about the first day, the moving in, the tearful departure. What I didn't think about was the RETURN!! We left Akron yesterday around 10:00 ...stopped for a leisurely breakfast, and got to HC around 1:00. When we got there, I thought Heather, Kate's roommate, was still there. Alas, no, it was all Kate's "stuff." We packed her car and my car to the brim. Refrigerator, books, musical scores, song books, oboes, sorority paddles, sorority Hbags, assorted purple items of sorority "stuff," popcorn, dishes, hangers, iron, etc...... :) Oh, yes, we also packed towels, sheets, assorted clothing and bedding....ALL DIRTY!! So, what's a mother to do? First, take Kate and her friend Kim to Walmart to buy more assorted "stuff" for the choir trip (plus meet tons of HC students--Tiffin is a small town). Second, send dad down the street to the HC baseball game, Third, grab some bins and get started. Fourth, two hours later call David to come back. Then the three of us make six trips to the dumpster, twelve trips down the elevator, and several trips up and down the stairs. We decide to go eat at Bob Evans (the only game in town) before we take off. We make enough room in the two cars to transport three people. We are just seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, when Kate utters the fateful words....."Oh, Can we stop by Brenneman? I need to pack up my music locker." After squeezing in more "stuff," we head to B.E. for dinner. We ended up seated next to three of Kate's professors, Dr. Vickie Ohls, music, Dr. Younger, honors college, and Kate's sorority advisor. It was nice. We had a great time talking. I'm so glad she is so happy at a place that I have come to love as well. Who knows? Maybe she is just coming home for a visit. Maybe when she returns to Heidelberg in the fall she'll be home again. Home... I guess it really is where your heart is. Happy Mother's Day to my mom. Thanks for giving me the guts and the vision to make a home of my own. I love you.

Easter

i thank You God for most this amazing

day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees

and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything

which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,

and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth

day of life and of love and wings:and of the gay

great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing

breathing any--lifted from the no

of allnothing--human merely being

doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and

now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

ee cummings

Good Friday

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCh4AsVrHhY

Why am I surprised?

You would think after living in NE Ohio almost 14 years I would quit being shocked over the return of spring. I mean, it happens more years than it doesn't.....the shock part at least. Yes, spring does manage to return in its own sweet time. The flowers bloom, the trees leaf, the grass grows. The shocking part is that winter has to have one more final laugh at our expense. Today snow is covering the ground. The wind is blowing so hard that I can hardly see the house across the street. The siding on the house is rattling and moaning. The poor little daffodils are managing to hold up their heads, but barely. Our forsythia is only blooming at the ground level this year....why? Because the top buds were frozen and the only ones left to bloom are the ones covered by snow. Geez! Enough already!
But, I do have some blooming going on around me. Kate is coming home tonight with two music major friends to see Renee Fleming at E.J. Thomas. She is getting ready to finish her freshman year at Heidelberg. Amazing! Molly looked at her first college yesterday and is contemplating her junior year schedule. Winston (the pup) has gained ten pounds and is beginning to blossom into a deeply spoiled and over indulged family dog. I have two great nephews and one great neice all born within 7 months of each other. My 82 year old dad just got hearing aids, and for the first time in 6o years has heard the dog's toenails clicking across the floor. Sounds like change. Sounds like life is stirring no matter what the temperature says. Sounds like blooming to me.

Welcome the world, Baby Girl!

It seems like all I do is wait for babies these days! The last one has arrived (at least for this round)! A girl, too! Welcome to Addison Diane Bond, born on March 31, 2009 at 10:52 p.m. Six pounds and 8 ounces of pure sweetness! It's hard for me to believe that my favorite #2 nephew is a dad! I know he'll be a great one. Congratulations to Charles, Megan and Addison Bond, but most of all congratulations to me....I love being the Greatest Aunt Ever!