Lessons Learned

Wearing the wedding dress that she chose with her beloved grandmother,   the beautiful bride held onto her father’s arm.     Her loving protective father whispered,   “If you don’t want to marry him, we can leave right now.”    The bride smiled and whispered,   “I love him Dad.”   Waiting for his bride to be at the top of the church aisle, the groom stood with his best man at his side.   His dad gestured with a thumbs up that he returned.   A loving gesture shared over many years between a father and a son.   He smiled because he loved that beautiful girl in that wedding dress. A few short years before the wedding day, the bride wasn’t too sure about the groom.     He was overly confidant, opinionated, and more stubborn than old mining mule.   She was kind, accepting and very considerate. The first time they met the bride asked, “Aren’t you Rick Oxley?” The groom only heard an angelic voic...

It’s been thirteen years, but I can still hear the phone ringing like if it was just a few minutes ago.    I can see myself picking up the receiver and hear a teacher’s sad voice informing me that a parent of one of our children had been murdered.    The next words she spoke still make my nose burn and my eyes water because no child should ever find her mom’s lifeless body.    The shock gave way to putting the “protocol” in place.   Phone calls were made.   The crises team met and a staff meeting would be held to action plan the day.    My custodian, my friend, greeted me like he did everyday, but today we weren’t talking sports and general school stuff. We had unspoken code.   No one would bring harm to our school.     I didn’t need say it.   Phil took care of security. Marianne, our secretary, was the lifeline on this day.   No one knows a principal and a school better than the school se...

Almost thirty-five years of sweltering summer dog days have meander along to the crisp coolness of a fall morning since I last heard the laugh of my friend.   Some of us are destined to be old men with great grandchildren playing at our feet as we watch and smile.  My friend's journey on God's green earth reached its summit when his eyes were filled with the teenage wonderment of chasing after that girl that made his head turn. Like many friendships among boys, my friendship with Joe started with a fight.  Not sure what we fought about but we became fast friends.  Smart mouths and the goofiness of being teenagers in the 1970's gave us a common bond.  Wrestling gave us a common purpose. Joe persevered through the lost of both his parents before he was in junior high.  He saw humor in every opportunity and was quick to make friends.  He lived as if somehow he knew that his life would end before it truly had a chance to begin. ...