Back when their boys were in fifth grade, I told Mr. and Mrs. Vahle that I pictured their twins one day at different colleges, and that Jacob would be studying science. Josh, I told them, would probably be studying English lit and would definitely spend a lot of time playing his guitar. I also told them that they would both end up being teachers.
While I honestly am not sure if Josh took up the guitar (although I can't imagine that he didn't, taking after his dad), I was definitely right about them both being teachers.
The Vahles--all six of them, really--have been the heart and soul of Woodbrook since before I was there. I think that's the hardest part of this for all of us. It's like we were all punched in the heart, and we are instinctively grasping for someone or something to hold onto, and the people who would normally hold us all afloat are the Vahles themselves.
Today, as the kids came flooding in, it was helpful that I had to go through the ritual of getting kids checked in, keeping them quiet during the announcements, off to math, and then the rest of the day was pretty much on autopilot. I'm not saying that I didn't have moments (especially at the end of the day), but having to attend to the kids' questions and needs did help in ways that cannot be expressed in words.
Today's advent video is one that Josh definitely would have appreciated. I hope you will all hold your kids a little extra tightly tonight.
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