The Tornado Siren


I drove down the winding gravel road toward the white two story farmhouse to pick up Stevie for the day and bring him over to my house.   This car ride would be an adventure in itself.  You see, Stevie has  his share of struggles in life with the cross he bears: autism.  This morning,  he willingly climbed into the front seat of my van,  then turned his body to face the window and away we went.

We drove from his house to my house and he began to point out tornado sirens along the way.  As we passed the sirens perched on the top of wooden poles, he began to talk excitedly about the type of siren it was, how sirens are made, how it works, and even who manufactures the siren. 

Every time we drew close, he would launch into another energetic talk about tornado sirens.

I have to be honest, up until this point, I had never noticed the sirens before, nor had a burning desire to become a siren expert.  Why did I want to keep listening to Stevie?  It was Stevie’s energy and expertise that drew me.   I have never met anyone so knowledgeable about tornado sirens and believe it or not, I found myself wanting to know about them just because he was so excited to share his knowledge with me. 

Now as I drive to work, I drive under a siren and think of what he taught me.  Being around someone who was so enthusiastic about something was an incredible experience.  He has caused me to reflect.  How does my energy effect those around me?  How can I bring passion and expertise to those around me?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Invitation

It my first year teaching middle school and my classroom was quickly becoming a second home to me. I even had a small fridge in my room. I would often find myself at school well into the evening; grading papers, planning lessons, and making worksheets. On this particular evening, I looked up and saw several of my students walking down the street and duck behind the gas station. Curious, I headed out. I also ducked behind the gas station and startled my teenage students who had lit cigarettes handing off their lips. They were flustered to find me standing there. Giving them an out, I invited them all to my room. Over chips and pop, I discovered they basically ran the streets of Olde Towne unsupervised until late evening. They were starting to stir up trouble. I extended an open invitation to them to come to my room, 136, any day. Why not, I figured, I’m always here. Well, to my surprise, they took me up on it. The next night, there they all were, all five of them. We
Read more

The Gift

“When you look into your mother’s eyes, you know that is the purest love you can find on this earth.”    ― Mitch Albom , For One More Day As the minute hand inched its way to 2:00, third grade students perched at the edges of their seats.  They stretched tall and peered around the table stacked high with handmade gifts in lavender tissue paper, eager to spot the guests of honor. Great care and attention to all the details went into transforming the library into a beautiful venue for this special day, similar to preparing a nursery for a new baby! What these special guests will soon learn is that the children have been preparing for this special day since the first month of school.  Nine months of careful preparation and love have been poured into poetry, songs, stories, and art work now carefully hiding under the tissue paper in beautiful handmade scrapbooks for one special person. “Mom is here!” one child excitedly exclaimed and they began to wave. Young faces erupted i
Read more

Giving it All

Shoulders sagging she averts her face As she imparts on her son one last embrace The fate of the family is in his hands As he boards the ship for a foreign land She mournfully watches his ship disappear And steels herself to heartache and fear Three sons she lost to the hideous war She now mourns the loss of even one more The young German man sails weeks to the dock Where Lady Liberty welcomes him to the flock A stoic man meets him and they journey by train Across the vast land and the wide open plain Laboring on a farm in the hot Kansas sun He toils by day stacking bales one by one Ornery farm boys toss the bales out the doors But he rises above and continues his chores Day after day the mother scans the sea Hoping that God hears her soulful plea But as fate would have it the winter months came The man sleeps in the barn and warms his hands in the grain The years turned to decades, money remains tight As the Great Depression adds to his plight. His meager
Read more