Slice of Life is sponsored every Tuesday by Two Writing Teachers.
Good Morning! I'm up. It's early. The gym is waiting. One peek at Twitter this morning, and I saw this blog post from Michelle Haseltine. This post launched the inspiration to share with you the people in my life in my tribe. I've wanted to write about them, but just couldn't figure out how. The words never seemed right. However, after reading Michelle's words, the inspiration struck, and I was off. From my family, to my husband, to my "ladies", to my co-workers, to members of my church, the tribe is small but mighty and I Love Them.
If you are wondering if this letter is to you, the answer is yes. :)
An Open Letter to My Tribe:
Thank you.
Thank you for being in my life. You know that most days I charge forward without a care in the world, knowing that the day will be awesome. You also know that on days when I'm overwhelmed and can't seem to do one more thing, you wrap your arms around me and encourage me to keep going. I can only hope to do the same for you as you do for me.
We laugh uproariously, cry openly, and hug often.
There are funny nicknames for each of us and it sounds crazy to others, but you know exactly how much it means we love you.
We cook food, eat food, and eat more food. (Healthy and Otherwise...) You share my affection for a good snack and a soda (or two).
We text each other late into the evening and at 4:57 AM to make sure I'm getting up for the gym. My Husband has funny names for our Data Plan, he's named it after several of you. (i.e. "I'm so glad we have the "insert your name here" data plan.")
When we sit in a meeting together, we can exchange ideas openly. I love hearing about your days and what you do! It brings fresh perspective to my corner of the world.
In the classroom we can ask each other, "Why are you doing that?" with the understanding that we want to be better educators. We can openly share ideas, knowing if it doesn't work for one of us, it might work for someone else. I don't take this amount of trust lightly. Thank you for sharing your classrooms with me.
We meet in the dark for runs. We meet after school for all kinds of things. (Tea, Coffee, Dinner, and yes a Beer from time to time...)
We pray together. Talk together. Ask questions that might not have any answers. When I wasn't sure that church was for me, you kept pushing me through the door, so my Sons could see that my Faith wasn't based on just a feeling. Sometimes it's a commitment to stick with it.
We've held each other's babies and practiced play dates when we had no idea how to do that. We've cheered each other's kids on as they grow. (This has been one of my favorite parts...)
When our favorite sports team is winning/losing we share more text messages. (And what we are eating.)
We've used the internet and social media to share ideas, and create new ideas, and stay in touch when we are far away or if we haven't met yet. There is responding, praising and questioning. It's amazing.
When I arrive at your house, you let me completely relax. I can let go of whatever I'm carrying with me. Thanks for that. Again, I hope to do the same for you when you come to see us.
When I look at you, I think about the person that I hope I'm developing into. Thanks for being in my Tribe.
Love,
Kendra
I'm sure there is more. But when I consider my tribe, I think this describes them best. So, to mimic Michelle's question from her blog post, who is in your tribe? What do you love about them?
Good Morning! I'm up. It's early. The gym is waiting. One peek at Twitter this morning, and I saw this blog post from Michelle Haseltine. This post launched the inspiration to share with you the people in my life in my tribe. I've wanted to write about them, but just couldn't figure out how. The words never seemed right. However, after reading Michelle's words, the inspiration struck, and I was off. From my family, to my husband, to my "ladies", to my co-workers, to members of my church, the tribe is small but mighty and I Love Them.
If you are wondering if this letter is to you, the answer is yes. :)
An Open Letter to My Tribe:
Thank you.
Thank you for being in my life. You know that most days I charge forward without a care in the world, knowing that the day will be awesome. You also know that on days when I'm overwhelmed and can't seem to do one more thing, you wrap your arms around me and encourage me to keep going. I can only hope to do the same for you as you do for me.
We laugh uproariously, cry openly, and hug often.
There are funny nicknames for each of us and it sounds crazy to others, but you know exactly how much it means we love you.
We cook food, eat food, and eat more food. (Healthy and Otherwise...) You share my affection for a good snack and a soda (or two).
We text each other late into the evening and at 4:57 AM to make sure I'm getting up for the gym. My Husband has funny names for our Data Plan, he's named it after several of you. (i.e. "I'm so glad we have the "insert your name here" data plan.")
When we sit in a meeting together, we can exchange ideas openly. I love hearing about your days and what you do! It brings fresh perspective to my corner of the world.
In the classroom we can ask each other, "Why are you doing that?" with the understanding that we want to be better educators. We can openly share ideas, knowing if it doesn't work for one of us, it might work for someone else. I don't take this amount of trust lightly. Thank you for sharing your classrooms with me.
We meet in the dark for runs. We meet after school for all kinds of things. (Tea, Coffee, Dinner, and yes a Beer from time to time...)
We pray together. Talk together. Ask questions that might not have any answers. When I wasn't sure that church was for me, you kept pushing me through the door, so my Sons could see that my Faith wasn't based on just a feeling. Sometimes it's a commitment to stick with it.
We've held each other's babies and practiced play dates when we had no idea how to do that. We've cheered each other's kids on as they grow. (This has been one of my favorite parts...)
When our favorite sports team is winning/losing we share more text messages. (And what we are eating.)
We've used the internet and social media to share ideas, and create new ideas, and stay in touch when we are far away or if we haven't met yet. There is responding, praising and questioning. It's amazing.
When I arrive at your house, you let me completely relax. I can let go of whatever I'm carrying with me. Thanks for that. Again, I hope to do the same for you when you come to see us.
When I look at you, I think about the person that I hope I'm developing into. Thanks for being in my Tribe.
Love,
Kendra
I'm sure there is more. But when I consider my tribe, I think this describes them best. So, to mimic Michelle's question from her blog post, who is in your tribe? What do you love about them?
Kendra, I'm honored to have served as an inspiration for this amazing blog post!! My favorite part is this, "When I arrive at your house, you let me completely relax. I can let go of whatever I'm carrying with me." I TOTALLY GET THAT!!! I feel my shoulders relax as I read those words. Thank you for continuing to celebrate our tribes!! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your kind words. I've been wanting to write about the special people in my life, but couldn't come up with a way to assure myself I wouldn't leave anyone out! The concept of a tribe really did that for me! Thanks again for the inspiration!
Delete