Blessed, In Spite Of...

   As I sat on my couch this morning early, just thinking on things in general, I took note of a magazine that had slipped down between the cushions. It was one I had saved back from the several that were destined for the recycle bin, and one that brings back a lot of memories for me.

   When I graduated the 6th grade at Sunnyside, an elementary school near our home in Chattanooga, TN, my parents wanted me to go on to a private boys school just across the ridge, but I did not want to go somewhere I knew none of the other students. So I finally talked them into letting me go on to the Junior High nearest us, which I did.

   But my parents would not let up. They continued to press for McCallie, I think because they had seen the quality of the programs there in the lives of boys that they had come in contact with over the years.

   The end result of this educational dilemma was that I was enrolled in the 8th grade there the following Fall, and spent 5 years in the academic, athletic and military environment of that school.

   An average student, in all three areas of McCallie life (listed in the previous paragraph), I nonetheless benefitted greatly from being there, and know now that if I had applied myself to a greater degree, my personal benefits could have been much more.

   "Too soon old and too late smart", Again…

   Just reading the stories in the McCallie School alumni magazine this morning, caused me to sit and think of what the school has done for so many over the last 111 years of its existence.

   The school motto:

   "Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever".

   It's core values:

   "Honor, Truth, Duty"

   These concepts are not just words on a masthead, or written in a brochure, they are incorporated into the grain of the academic, athletic and general life of the school, and for that I will be forever grateful.

   Since most of my adult life (life after school) was lived in Chattanooga, we were privileged to raise our kids there and let them attend school in that city. Our two sons followed their dad into McCallie and our daughter graduated at a sister school, Girls Preparatory School.

   As I read back over what I have written, I realize that there is so much to write about here, that I cannot do it all in one post. Memories of my time there at that school, and the relationships that our family has there are just too many and varied for now.

   But when I began to write this morning, the one point that I felt I wanted to convey was that of the effect on future generations of decisions made somewhere in the past, and sometimes reluctantly.

   Both my sons flourished at McCallie, and I am sure that their experiences in middle and high school served to shape their lives for the better, for themselves, their families and the people that they influence in their careers.

   I did not want to go, but am glad I got the chance.

   I'm glad for me, and I'm glad for them.

   (And I'll write about my fantastic daughter later)