Wow! A reply to the previous post:

I always tell my little boy about the tag program and what a great teacher you were for us mr. Horvich! I remember you also never spoke to us like we were babies or little kids. One of my favorite memories is you telling some kid in the hallway he was acting like a jackass. Because he was! And that's when it hit me that you weren't going to talk down to us. You were going to talk with us. I loved every minute of your classes and grew every single day I was in one of your classes

Every Now and Then

Every now and then I connect with a former student and get praise like this:

I wanted to let you know, I jumped on a FB Live with Alexis Del Cid today and your name came up...

She's in broadcasting on a morning show and was on her way to present an award to a teacher in her viewing area. She talked about the value of great teachers and asked who some of our favorite teachers are. 

The thing you did for me in fifth grade, no one has since expressly taught, and that is divergent thinking. In your TAG program, we did many cool and engaging things but what stands out is, you described the process of thinking divergently and had us practice it.

To this day, 30+ years later, there is no single skill that is more valuable to me. The fact that I can take a single scenario and intentionally turn it over in my mind and flip it upside down and inside out gives me an immense freedom to take risks. 

I also believe it gives me an edge over less creative thinkers, in my various chosen fields, that is most of the competition!

I have created new opportunities in life and business, sold things to people who couldn't be "sold", even quite jobs with zero fear of what would come next simply because I am skilled from all those years of internalizing that one simple lesson you taught. 

Thank You!

By the way, I meant to tell her your name is pronounced Hor-Vick, it might have been autocorrected to Hot-Vick which she probably thought was crazy when she read it on air... Sorry Alexis!

Destiny

I quote from a recent DailyOM: There are those of us who believe that our lives are predestined and that we should resign ourselves to our lots in life. Yet the truth is that it is up to each one of us to decide what that destiny will be. While each of us is born with a life purpose, it is up to us whether or not we will say yes to fulfilling it. And just like when we choose what to eat, who to keep company with, and whether to turn right or left when we leave our home everyday, choosing to say yes to your destiny is a decision that can only be realized when you take action to make that choice a reality. 

For some reason I wasn't able to read this horoscope and delete it. I got to thinking, "What is my destiny?" I am not sure if I believe in predestination but I guess I do believe, as the quote presents, that we either arrive in this life with a purpose and choose to accept it or as we live our lives, we decide what we want to accomplish in this life, what we want to be remembered for. Some people probably just live their lives and don't think about such things, but I do. Is that at blessing or a curse? I do not know.

On reading the above DailyOM post, my first thought was, "I have already met my destiny." I thought of that in terms of my role with Gregory dealing with Alzheimer's, I thought of the successful Michael's Museum: A Curious Collection of Tiny Treasures at Chicago Children's Museum on Navy Pier. I thought of my two self-published books of poetry. I thought of all the young people I hopefully influenced during my teaching career although one never knows the details of those successes unless you are lucky enough for students to let you know many years later. I have had maybe a dozen positive feedbacks and one negative feedback out of some several thousand students over my career.

Then I got to thinking about the possible future accomplishments like the path the Alzheimer's Documentary may take, having my Alzheimer's manuscript published, the "currently on the shelf" concept for a second museum of small things, my Flea Circus, more traveling when Gregory has left, and who knows what else might come my way.

After thinking about "destiny," both past, present, and possibly future, I have decided that I can more easily select one word that would address my destiny and which defines it. I am a Nurturer. It gives me great joy.

This is what the dictionary says about nurture - noun -

1. the act or process of promoting the development, etc, of a child

2. something that nourishes

3. (Biology) biology the environmental factors that partly determine the structure of an organism

4. to feed or support

5. to educate or help others train themselves. to 

So I am a nurturer by way of being an educator. Hopefully I am a nurturer by sharing my positive outlook on life, my even temperament, my easy smile, my willingness to be open and honest with people, my willingness to take the time to stop and help someone or to listen to them and empathize with their need, to just sit with someone and hold their hand.

I am amazed at what JOY being a nurturer brings, at basically no cost to me in the giving of myself. And it only took seventy (70) years to figure all this out.