It gives me pause. A moment of silence

A former colleague of mine passed away this week. He was too young, too vibrant, too gifted, and too loved to leave this world. He told me last year that he was planning to teach one more year then put up the teacher plan books and enter retirement, with lots of time for his grandchildren and family. I am in shock. I wish it wasn’t so, that he had decided to retire last year. Life is a mystery. We must be grateful for each day we enjoy. We must be thankful for all the people in our lives that mean so much to us. We must not treat our days as insignificant, although we often do.
Each moment is a gift. A moment we will never live again.
Lui, you will be missed.

A  TRIBUTE  TO  LU’I  TUATO’O

T

EACHER

NO one could dance—like Mr. T.

NO one could smile—like Mr. T.

NO one could get a group of Seventh and Eighth graders to clap, tap, side-step, swing, and drum in faultless rhythm—like Mr. T.

HIS students could tell he cared, that he desired their academic growth and for them to be their best as productive people—This was a gift he gave to his students.

C

OLLEAGUE

AS a staff, we could count on Lui to ask clarifying questions—You know this if you’ve been to a staff meeting, and these often helped us, too!

I think Administration usually knew where Lui stood on the latest and best new expectation—He wasn’t one to keep quiet. . .He spoke his mind.

AT times, Lui would commiserate with some of us about the next teacher observation or  — You fill in the blank . . .  But, he came through, always.

AS teachers and staff, we had our own opinions—But we could always find common ground, ways to laugh or relate or understand each other. He was one of us!

F

RIEND

Lui liked to tease; he could be found teasing his students, teachers, the office personnel, and administration—Well, I guess, just about everybody! Thanks for this!!!  Sometimes we can take ourselves too serious. . .

LUI made sure to come by and say words that would encourage us—at just the right time when we needed it; several of us experienced this in our interactions with him over the years.  Helping things seem just a bit better.

HE stopped by my room on my last day of teaching to wish me well in my future endeavors—He said he would be following the same path in the next year or two. I am sorry this will not be. I wish it could and sad that it won’t.

F

AMILY

Lui loved his family—He was crazy about his grandchildren, just you ask him; his smile and twinkle in his eyes could light up a room!

IN his heart, his family was what it was all about—His happiness in being with them, his cheerfulness when they came into the conversation, and his plans and activities with them at the center. We can only imagine the depth of your loss.

…

The school family at Hamilton Elementary will miss him.

Forever he will be our teacher, colleague, and friend.

“Mr. Tuato’o” - “Mr. T.”  - and “Lui”

 February 3, 2012
NLBW

End note:  The graveside service was beautiful. Mary Tuato'o, Lui's wife was the MC.  She, and Lui's daughter spoke lovely tributes about his life and his love for them and others. His brother prayed a gracious prayer. Several of the family were in uniform. Lui's faith was touched on and also the accomplishments, becoming an American citizen, the first to receive a college degree in his family, his accomplishment at becoming a teacher. There were many tears by family, friends, and students, both past and current. A recording was played of his family singing Samoan hymns. They sang and I was touched. He was sixty.

Lockdown

 A Comment in response to the Boston Bombings:

 Dear Readers,

I add on to an earlier post I wrote soon after the killing in Connecticut. Reading the events of today, with the two bombs planted and detonated for the purpose of causing harm, fear, injury, and death directed at random people enjoying a well-known event, make me want to revisit this writing of mine about school shootings and the dangers that threaten our security as people in America. I wrote it during a passionate moment when I was considering the nature of the times in which we live.  We aren't in Kansas anymore.  We must wake up.  None of us will enjoy a sense of safety if evil is allowed free access to ferment and grow, especially if good things and wholesome concepts are not a part of who we are as a people.  I want more for my children and grandchildren than to live in fear or where life has little value, where it is not considered intrinsically of worth.  Of course, I do not know who placed the bombs at this time, so no conclusion can be wrought in this writing.  It may not fit the circumstances....but, I believe it is worth repeating anyway.

My thoughts and prayers to each and every family impacted by today's horrific bombings, and for our nation with its loss, during its time of need.

May God Bless America,
Norma Brumbaugh Wieland
April 15, 2013


 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 A Comment
Three days ago a young man went on a killing rampage at an elementary school in Connecticut after killing his own mother.  As I watched President Obama say the words we all were thinking, I had to agree, it's happening all too often.  Something is terribly wrong.  Last night I penned the words that follow for a facebook post.  We must force ourselves to look at the bigger picture, to see what is becoming a reality in our society.  There are many reasons that people do these horrid crimes against humanity.  One can't lump them in a tight group.  But it can't be just mental illness or access to guns. Here is what I wrote last night.

Lockdown thoughts...my two-cents: A year ago I went through a lockdown at the school where I taught. A shooter was on the loose. It happened at dismissal time. We were told that the school was going into lockdown mode. I called a couple students back who had just gone out the door, and I initiated measures to protect my students. The kids thought it was a practice drill, but I thought it was legitimate because of the timing. A few minutes into it, one student asked me, "Do you think this is real?" I said, "I think it may be." Soon another child said, "Do you think we will go to heaven today?" We didn't know what was up for 45 minutes until the Superintendent came into our classroom and escorted children one-by-one to their parents. It had been a nearby shooting, at a taco truck down the street from the school, the gunman at-large, his home across from the school. Scary stuff.

Yesterday I was making a connection. In other countries the shooters, destroyers of innocents, come in the form of suicide bombers. In our country, it's the young adults who've been raised in a country that glorifies death, often called "the culture of death." We are short-sighted when the news people think it's just about gun control. I've seen evidence that our children's minds are being influenced in a trend toward violence. Three years ago I started witnessing something new in my classrooms, while I'd be teaching a lesson in a small reading group, Ks and 1st graders would point with their fingers and sometimes make shooting noises at random times during a lesson, pointing at other kids or at me. It didn't matter what group. In the past I was used to seeing children pick up sticks at recess play to use as weapons (although we would stop them) which one would come to expect, but now shooting was so automatic in their video-game-focused minds that it would spill out at all-too-frequent moments like an automatic extension of themselves. Some children could literally not stay awake in class because they played their game systems long after their parents were asleep. I think, the entertainment business has a lot to answer for...but no one talks about this, only gun control. 

Meanness is in, in case you haven't noticed, another common denominator in movies and in the whole area of bullying. In bully-prevention courses we learn that the bully does not see the targeted victim as a person, they are seen as an object, an animal or less. If we want to look even closer, it has become socially acceptable in some areas. As a nation we kill...we've made it legal to kill the unborn...the so-called unwanted...and in extreme cases...the living who have no voice or value. I'll never forget the images of a woman starving to death when she was denied hydration and nourishment, and we as a nation watched this for almost two weeks, every day I wondered how much longer she could last, and ultimately, the judge and doctors turned their back on her. Do you remember this? I changed the wording in my Will because of that travesty of justice. What is the message to our children, to our citizenry? I am angry in a sense, we need to wake up and stop being so blind.

SOOOO a solution....Let's make our communities and nation into a "culture of life." Let's show that everyone has value, intrinsic value because they are a person and they matter, that we care enough to encourage healthy experiences. We need to help people in need. We need to want the right things for our children. We need to teach about a higher power, a loving God. Why? If we take this even further, we can step back and see that a lot of this violence also relates to our distancing from God and His teachings. Without moral teachings or constraints, or a better reason for doing right, people can do dehumanizing actions towards other humans. I think we need to reverse this trend. Encourage the thoughts embedded in the Ten Commandments, that anchor a life in the ways of gracious living and culturally sound principles, in such a way that they are understood in the inner recesses of the human soul. I know it won't eliminate wrong but maybe it would help, and just maybe, there could be a few less innocents lost in our schools or public settings.

Norma L. Brumbaugh Wieland
12/16/012

Author:  The Meeting Place:  Moments with God at Lookout Point

Men of Issachar

Men of Issachar

In scripture we sometimes find nuggets in the midst of lists of names.  Such a gem was bought to my attention a couple of days ago.  Amongst a list of the warriors who served King David is this verse:  "And the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do' the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command."  I Chronicles 12:32
 
My good friend shared this passage from the Bible with me.  His comment, "What is different about these men of David is, unlike any of the elite warriors they were part of, these men had insight into how Israel should function in light of the times they found themselves in. Today we need Christians who live in the same understanding manner.  Not reacting but wise."

I quite agree.

The Deed is Done

I think of the road less traveled.  Like Robert Frost, I have come to the fork in the road and am venturing on a path less certain, more fascinating and sure-to-be more adventurous.  Leaving the safe secure path of finishing my career as a teacher in a small school district, is a major life-changing decision especially since it is not a fiscally smart step for my future life.  I have said to my friends, this will either be the best decision I've ever made or the worst.  One can only hope it is the "best". 

Many factors came into play that made this a decision that took at least two years to make.  I think back to my frustrations and discontent with my daily employment situation.  As much as I tried, it never was what I wished it to be or thought it could be which is not a good thing.  Yet, I am not one to believe work has to be rosy to be right nor that God only gives us the positive, for that is not a realistic appraisal of

the human experience.  But, a growing unrest has been decidedly gnawing at me, a voice that wouldn't be silenced day in and day out.  Also, there is an eagerness to chose a different path before the years become too many and the age-factor impedes the possibility.  I don't think I'm a Grandma Moses.

As I write this, I am weary, tired, and exhausted.  Depleted, may be the operative word that fits exactly as the perfect adjective describing my condition.  Why would anyone want to continue in such a state?  Invigorated, is the word that I hope will be the adjective to describe me as I seek a new direction and sense of person-hood.  There is so much in me that wants to learn and do and write and be, and hopefully when that person is released, it will be without drawing too much attention to myself in the process.  It's really not about me, for most of it pertains to being a better servant to the God I love.  How so?  I'm glad you asked!

One must be spiritually, physically, emotionally, and intellectually fit.  Some of these areas I've neglected. Others I've had little time for.  And a couple of them I've been cultivating, the seeds have been planted, sprouted, and are growing, hopefully to maturation in due season.  Much more needs to be done of course, and the time seems short.  Besides the pursuing of these areas in my life, I want to laugh more and fill my life with joy and beauty.  I'm tired of being so serious and boring!  How?  In my way of thinking, I think the first step is to let negativity go, next-to seek the greater good, and then-mix it with finding wonder in the little things of life.  In the spirit realm, make "ask", "seek", and "knock" a daily vital part of life.

There are some dreams that come with this new venture on the road of life.  I'd like to spend a month cloistered in a retreat that follows Ignatian Spiritual Exercises.  Although I'm not catholic, I believe God could use this time in spiritual prayer and supplication to turn me inside-out in a positive way.  Another area I'd like to pursue is theophostic training to help me become better equipped for spiritual counseling, a technique where God does the revealing and healing and the counselor is the praying agent who comes alongside and supports.  I have found that people open up to me and trust me with their issues, yet I have a need to know how to better assist those who talk with me.  What else?  Spend a few weeks in Colorado with my grandchildren and kids every few months >>> Heaven!!!!  Take some time for my friends>>>YES!!!  Start working on a healthier me. :)  And watch more fun movies with Glorianne, and take more scenic trips just because I want to.  Most of all, developing the areas that are in my heart and blood, both in writing and service.  

Let the adventure begin!!!