Veterans Day

Veterans Day. What a great opportunity to teach our students about service - in many forms - and to practice kindness and gratitude for the generosity of spirit and bravery demonstrated by so many before us. 

It's also a time for me to remember my dad, not only as a loving, giving, amazing example of paternal selflessness and caring - but as a brave veteran. 

My dad is a fine example of finding your passion early and finding a career to match that passion. When he was a young boy he built model airplanes and was fascinated by flight. He carried that through the service as a Navy pilot and then after as an aerospace engineer - a real life rocket scientist. And he never stopped building those model airplanes - they just became more elaborate.

As an adult, I was fortunate to get to fly with him during a sightseeing flight I'd gotten him for his birthday. He took the controls after decades away from a plane and you could see that passion - and his skill - was still as strong as ever.

My dad was the smartest person I knew - with the biggest heart and the best sense of humor.  And on this Veterans Day I will be thinking of him. His bravery, his wit, and his love of flight - knowing he's flying all around us on the wings built by the memories he created within our family.

In my classroom, we will honor veterans this week and we will collaborate about service - in many forms. I will also be attempting to instill in my students a desire to search for their passion. To not stop until they find it. To hone it. To create a life from it. I KNOW it can be done. And - thanks to veterans - we live in a country where all that is possible.