Skip to main content

Piece #6 - The Fourth Move and Education

'I'm goin'ta Kansas City...Kansas City here I come!' The song by Wilbert Harrison sounds so easy, since I'd lived there for most of my life, finding a house should be a piece of cake...right? Welllllllll, that wasn't the case, it proved to be a lot harder than I thought. The bad part was for the first time we had to try to sell the house in Seneca before an official move could be made! (And that wasn't easy either!!!) By the time August rolled around, we were still unsuccessful in finding a home or even being able to sell the current house, and school was starting...soon. We only had one real option, I was going to stay at my parent's house in Kansas City and Jaimee and the girls would have to stay in Seneca. So with the school year beginning, I was at Kansas City Middle School of the Arts (KCMSA for short) and the girls attended Seneca elementary.


When I wanted to see my family, I would have to drive about 3 hours to Seneca for my beautiful wife and my lovely girls. I have to admit that was one of the hardest things to do because they were far away and not seeing them every day was difficult. It was nice having my parents around, but it wasn't the same. The only time Jaimee was able to come up and help me look for houses were during holidays like Labor Day, Halloween and so on. It was becoming increasingly difficult on everyone. I remember there were times when I would start crying in the car on the way to school from hearing a song on the radio and I would think of Jaimee and the girls with them still being in Seneca. I've noticed that with my Asperger’s that when I reflect on events that have happened I tend to get a little more emotional than at that time of an incident. (Unless I get angry, that always seemed automatic.) Many times songs or movie moments tend to set it off. (Pixar movies are the WORST! You talk about Niagara Falls!!!)


The other thing that made this all so taxing was that I was teaching for the Kansas City School District. Now, don't get me wrong, it wasn't because of the district, but because I wasn't ready for the environment I was about ready to step into. You have to understand that at that point, I was teaching in country schools with mostly rural people and their cliques. This was a whole new ball game...the inner city and gangs. When I was in college, I had a taste of inner city schools when I observed some classes from Paseo High School. I will be the first to tell you that this wasn't the same thing. It is totally different being the teacher than watching the teacher. One thing that I'll never forget was when the first day was over, I had been in the office when one of the vice-principals had approached me and asked me how everything went. I told her it went well, and then she asked me something that I'd never heard before from any administrator, she asked me if I'd be back tomorrow. At first I thought what a really odd question, but as my first year in the district came to a close, I understood why she asked. Many teachers have had a bad habit of coming into a teaching job, but they had a hard time staying. I stayed. With that, I was able to put on four plays for the four years I spent at KCMSA, and I would have to admit it was rather fun. The facilities that Paseo has are really amazing. They had built some beautiful theaters. I'm currently teaching in another school building for the district.

It wasn't until November that we finally found a house. Not only that, but we had found someone to buy our Seneca home as well! This was quite a blessing from the Lord because November is not a prime time for selling or buying a house so it was quite a miracle. We took the Thanksgiving weekend to move in the home. It was a wonderful feeling having everyone back in Kansas City.

[I just wanted to say to all the students I had the pleasure of knowing during my time in Southwest Missouri, I truly enjoyed my time with all of you and it's great to see how well you’re doing after high school...Thank you Facebook! And feel free to ‘Friend’ me if you want.]


The Song of Inspiration [Check it out on iTunes!]:

Song: “Still Here”

Artist: Superchick


Album: Reinvention










Here is the house as it stood when we first moved in. It has changed quite a bit since that time. I believe this is to date, the largest house we’ve lived in.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Piece #111 - First Impressions

"You already know that making a good first impression can go a long way. But forget all the advice you've received about dressing to impress or putting on a cheesy smile. Turns out, the true secret to building a lasting connection reaches much deeper than what you wear." "According to Amy Cuddy, a Harvard Business School professor who has researched first impressions for more than 15 years, everyone (consciously or subconsciously) asks two questions when they meeting someone new: Can I trust this person? And can I respect this person?" This quote comes from Reader's Digest and I actually found this rather compelling because I never really heard of this before. I've addressed this topic of first impressions in the past but, I have to admit that this idea is interesting. I guess since you hear a lot of things from a smile, the outfit or what you say make the difference; however these two questions have me a little perplexed. I think it depends on the ...

Piece #1 - The Beginning

I guess like embarking on any puzzle, it must always starts with the first piece. So to begin, I have Asperger's Syndrome, in other words I'm Autistic, and so this literature will be about my struggles with this disorder as an adult. I was first diagnosed back in the summer of 2004. If it wasn't for my twin daughters, I might not have ever known all the questions I have ever had in life; to them, I will always be in their debt. Growing up, you are never really aware of any differences until the judgment years...6th thru 12th grade of school. A time when one always tests their own humanity against others; meaning, how will I measure up against other students.   In my eyes I seemed to be just like them; two arms and legs, ten fingers and toes, head and body...nothing unusual. Yet, for some reason, I was treated a little different than everyone else. That's one of those things that you can't quite put your finger on, but I observed on many occasions how kids would talk...

Broken Piece #2 - Susan Boyle

For those of you who are not sure who is Susan Boyle, she was the second place winner to the show "Britain's Got Talent" in 2009. She sang the famous song from  Les   Misérables  "I Dreamed the Dream". Since the show, Susan had been making guest appearances on a variety of shows and recorded several albums. Susan's first album alone broke several chart-records and was very well received around the world. I believe why she had such incredible appeal was because she was a perfect representative of all the 'regular people' in the world. She didn't come in flashy or striking but, modest and humble. When a person like Susan is thrown into the whirlwind of concerts, parties, media, and money, it's very difficult to stay grounded and not having your own personal world torn apart. Sadly for Susan Boyle, her tiny universe is crumbling. First, she did have a health scare when she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes that prompted her to lose weight. Se...