I have enjoyed periodically reaching into the greatest hits file to republish columns previously written about my grandmother. If you’ll oblige me, here is another. This last printed in the July 23, 2024 issue of the Whitesboro News-Record.
By now, you’ve learned much about my grandmother’s second career as a community newspaper reporter.
As such, you’ve learned how much her work influenced the direction my life would take.
What I have not discussed much, though, was her first career.
She was an eighth-grade English teacher here at Whitesboro for 20 years before serving her tenure as WISD’s elementary school guidance counselor. It was in her capacity as an English teacher that most of you remember her. Whitesboro is a small town. It was smaller back then.
She was the only eighth grade English teacher in the district and English is a tough subject for most eighth graders.
Life is tough for most eighth grade students. It can be a rough time full of hormones and transitions. Proper sentence structure is near the bottom of most eighth-grade students’ lists of priorities. She knew this and relished it. She was determined to educate kids, and it was a task she took seriously. About this, another one of her famous quotes derived.
“I was the only eighth grade English teacher for years. They all had to go through me to get to high school, and not all of them made it to high school,” she’d say.
The sentiment always got a laugh, but it was not all sarcasm.
Not all of them made it to high school — not on the first try, anyway.
She was tough, and kids knew it.
There is wisdom in her statement. The greatest things in life are worth working for. There are no free passes in this world and just attending class is not enough. One must apply themselves and put forth effort. Grades, in class and life, aren’t handed out for free. They must be earned.
Woody Allen may have said, “80 percent of success is showing up.” But who wants to get by on 80 percent? Merely showing up is not enough.
Proverbs 12:11 says, “Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense.”
This applies universally. We all get to “show up.” By being born, we show up.
It is our hard work that determines the abundance by which we live.
Proverbs goes on to claim (14:23), “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.”
This refers to a previous lesson she taught me about how intentions are of no substance unless they become actions.
Again, just showing up is never enough. The diligence by which we abide will determine the abundance by which we live. Abundance doesn’t always mean a big bank account.
Abundance means contentment, health — whatever means that fills your heart. Abundance is attained by hard work. Nothing else will get you there.
And, as always, in life “not all of them will make it.”