I'm the Luckiest

I flung my paper airplane over the balcony and watched as it made a two-foot circle and landed near my feet. The people in the seats near me laughed and clapped their hands. Someone said, "Go on, try again -- you can get the trajectory right." 

I smiled, shook my head, and returned to my seat next to my wife Amy. I asked her if she saw my epic fail, and she laughed and nodded. To be fair to me, I knew my paper airplane didn't have a chance to make to make it to the stage. Not because it was too far away; there were others throwing from the balcony who made it. I just forgot how to make my paper airplane more streamlined. Mine was riddled with mis-folds and a mistrust from the beginning that it wouldn't fly very far. And it didn't.

It was a fun date night for Amy and I, though. We went to see the Ben Folds, a singer-songwriter, amazing pianist, and alt-rock legend from the 1990's. He's one of my favorites and we were not disappointed. It was just him and a piano, no band. This was his Paper Airplane Request Tour, meaning, during the second half of the show, you could write requests on a piece of paper, fold it into a paper airplane, and try to get it to fly onto the stage. He would then pick them up randomly and decide to play the request or not. 

But through all the great music, something bothered me. Something that had happened earlier in the week. There was a teenage boy who attended our daughter Beatrice's high school who had committed suicide. He was a junior and a football player, but other than that, we didn't know him or his family. It was still so sad. We talked about it at dinner with both our kids, of course reminding them that they could always talk with us about anything. 

The next day at school Beatrice told us that the boy's suicide impacted many of the students and the teachers alike. She said it was a somber day and was glad to be home for the weekend. I told both Beatrice and her sister Bryce that I had a good friend take his own life the year after I finished high school. It was the first funeral I had ever attended and I was one of the pallbearers, too. That part I didn't tell them, only because it was sad enough discussing suicide with our teens. 

One in five high school students seriously considered attempting suicide in 2023, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We feel like we have open and solid relationships with our teens, but it's something we think about when our kids struggle with anxiety and stress. Something I didn't tell my kids yet is that I was that junior high school student once who was dealing with a lot of anxiety and overwhelming existential darkness that I didn't understand at the time. Suicide was an alternative that crossed my mind.

Luckily, I didn't end my life, even though luck didn't have much to do with it. Deep down I knew I wanted to live, but it would take a lot more anxiety, flailing introspection, poor choices, help from others, and over a decade later to get it all together. By my early 30's the trajectory of my life had already changed dramatically, and after I met Amy, I continued to heal mentally and spiritually. There were still up and downs, but finally more ups than downs. Ups I manifested and were grateful for.

Which brings me back to seeing Ben Folds with Amy. One of the songs he played is called "Still Fighting It" and it's about having children and all the things you go through again with them that you experienced growing up. That one always makes me tear up about our own children now, and my heart ached again for the family whose high school son committed suicide last week. Blessings to him and to them. 

The song I wrote down on the paper that I turned into an ill-fated paper airplane was "The Luckiest" -- one of my favorite songs from Ben Folds and one that reminds me of my relationship with Amy. My paper airplane didn't make it to the stage, but luckily that was the next song he played. I was grateful to be there in that moment with my wife, just as I'm grateful to be present in every moment possible with our children, going through all the things with them that we went through when we were their age. 

I'm not sure I've ever believed in luck, but I do know that I'm the luckiest. 

"...And where was I before the day
That I first saw your lovely face?
Now I see it everyday
And I know..."

Blessings to Our Teachers Everywhere

"Who's your favorite teacher?" our youngest Bryce asked me.

"I don't have a favorite," I answered. "I like them all."

"This guy," Bryce said. This is their new humorous response equivalent to saying, "C'mon, you can do better than that."

Bryce pressed further. "How would you rate them all on a scale of 1 to 10?"

"I wouldn't," I said. "Again, I like them all."

"What about my teachers?" our oldest Beatrice asked. "How would you rate them?"

"Again, I wouldn't."

"This guy."

This was the conversation with our teens after my wife Amy and I went to both their back-to-school open houses, with Bryce now in middle school and Beatrice in high school. I did ultimately acquiesce to Bryce's demand and rate each of her teachers (they all got high marks, by the way), but Beatrice didn't want any specific number ratings, just a nod that we liked her teachers. 

Which we did. Both open house visits were great. In fact, one of Beatrice's teachers felt like this was one of the best parental turnouts since before COVID-19. Distance learning was difficult to manage for everyone and many kids fell behind. We were fortunate to be able to work from home and support our kids while they learned from home, and today we've thankfully been back in the classroom for a few years now. 

We've gone to our teens' open houses every year, virtually and in person, and are always excited to hear when their teachers have in store and what they'll be learning throughout the year. From preschool to now, our children have had a quality education and the enduring support of teachers and staff. Besides the preschool that we paid for, from kindergarten onward, the public education system continues to be foundational to our republic. 

Our third president, Thomas Jefferson, believed that educated citizens made the American experiment of self-government a success. He advocated for free and public education for all that was radical in his day, even if it took a lot longer for enslaved black people and women to experience it for themselves. There are educational options for families today, but not all are accessible or affordable for all like the public education system.

As we sat in each of our kids' classes during their middle and high school open houses, we heard more than just what was in the teachers' syllabuses. We heard their teachers' hopeful enthusiasm that every child will have the opportunity to learn and grow in their classes, and that they will do everything they can to ensure every child will have the support and resources they need. Not always easy for teachers and the public education system to do, but it's still the cornerstone of our democracy, enabling education for all regardless of social status, gender, race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. 

Beatrice and Bryce may not like school every day, but they do appreciate their teachers. When I reflect on them wanting to know how we'd rate their teachers this year, I give them all 10's. Yes, we're still making up for learning deficits and our teachers are working hard to close those gaps. This Labor Day, blessings to our teachers everywhere.