Educational Journeys

With a snap and a thud, the bed lurched to the floor, sending all five of us flying.  Coffee cups evicted their contents and the once clean sheets obliged in soaking it up.  Startled, we looked around and tried to figure out what had happened.

Saturday mornings when we don't have obligations are a luxury in our home.  I relish that rare opportunity to sit in bed sipping endless cups of coffee and talking with my husband.  In various stages, one by one each of the kids will also congregate there and we end up having great family time together---that is, until the kids become awake enough that things get a little too rambunctious and someone inevitably ends up getting hurt.  (Did I mention that three of the kids are boys?)  Still, it's something I cherish.  Last Saturday, we were on our way through enjoying this ritual, when my son (who weighs only about 75 pounds) sat on the bed, and like the last straw in the game "Kerplunk"  the frame supporting the mattress gave way, and we---like so many marbles tumbled to the floor.  Game over. 

Initially, we were---irritated.  But as the morning wore on, and we discovered that the bedframe might not be salvageable I realized that might also mean the end of the uncomfortable mattress.  Suddenly I began to see opportunity, where previously had dwelt only dismay.  Visions of a new mattress now crowded my thoughts.  Re-energized, I made shopping plans.

You know, continuing my education and career advancement with adult school programs at Granite State College is a bit like that.  I was unhappy about the fact that I had not finished my college schooling in the "traditional" way I had begun at age 18.  But now I also see that unfinished degree as an opportunity to enjoy schooling in a different context; that of having an adult's perspective, and life experience to bring to the classroom.  I guess it's like they always say....."when life gives you lemons, make lemonade."