I've been going through the old photo albums lately. I've been looking for pictures to use at my parents' anniversary party. I went through the old family albums, and today I moved on to the more recent vacation albums. For some reason, mixed in with those were some of my scrapbooks from when I was teaching at Alemany. Looking at some of those pictures made me really nostalgic for those days. I know there were a lot of reasons to get out of the traditional classroom, and those are still valid. But seeing all of those pictures reminded me of what I loved about teaching high school--my students.

I miss the relationships I developed with my students, something that I can't do now. I mean, it's amazing how close I can get to some of them even now, but, really, they are gone after 8, or maybe even 4, weeks.

I miss the exhuberance of youth that so many of my students had. Some of them still have it, and some of my currents students do, too. But so many people I encounter now have lost that and are stuck in the rat race of their lives. When I am the most lively person in the room, something is seriously wrong in the world.

As I said, I know I'm in the right place for now, but some days I really miss what I had before. It's especially difficult this time of year, when I want to get ready for the new school year.

I'm a bit melancholy today. Ah well. This, too, shall pass. *sigh*