Love Is All You Need

"There's nothing you can do that can't be done."...."It's easy..." All you need is love... Some of the most famous words ever written by the Beatles. I had them as part of my wedding invitation. I've sang them repeatedly to all of my children from ages 22 to five. All you need is love, love...
Obviously, the Beatles were working at an inner city school when they wrote the lyrics of this song.

I am a teacher. Most of you already know this, and knowingly scratch their heads in confusion as to why. I know the consequences of teaching (i. e. low wages, long days, wasted nights, and shortened weekends, yada). And I bitch about them all. Yes, I whine, moan, complain, bitch, whine, moan, complain, bitch, wash, rinse, repeat. Yet, I cannot see myself doing anything else.

My last year of school, as some of you can attest to, was one of the hardest I've endured in my 14 years of teaching (and while some of you say 14 years isn't long...try teaching one...year that is). My sister had gone away over the summer, to heaven, rebirth, guardianship, wherever we may find her...and my heart was just not healing quick enough for school. I stepped on some toes (Yes, I voted Obama, I supported gay equality, and I accidentally said a bad word) which resulted in having the good ole boys ship the wicked witch of the bayou (after teaching there 14 years I might add =P) to the city without a taxi cab confession. And at 43 years of my life, I was terrified, scared, confused, and teaching math. Math, alone, was more than enough. I did it, though. I don't know how I survived...I don't know how my teaming partner survived...I don't know how the secretary survived...the principal...and yeah...even the custodian survived without snatching me bald-headed. They ate my lunch and then came back for dessert. And at the end of the year, I finished as an effective teacher, which allowed me the opportunity to interview at other schools. So, I pulled my "big girl panties on" and came back the next year, hoping I could become the teacher they needed me to be.

Keep filling yourself up with love, even if there is none around you. And that will make all the difference. It won't keep them from going at each other with fists, tooth, and nail when they've had enough. It would keep them from shoving their middle finger up your nose and telling you to shut the fuck up. But it will keep you walking out that door at the end of the day, and walking back in the same one the next day.

Love is all you need.