Worst Case Scenario

My good friend Adam Biddle, who came to my classroom a couple times while I was teaching fifth grade, wrote a wonderful piece for Fire Rescue Magazine. Adam is a battalion chief for the Noblesville Fire Department.

The article, which you can read by clicking here, is about the loss of his infant son as well as the Noblesville school shooting in May, in which he thought he may have lost another son. It's a very well written piece. He speaks about the fact that there is a stigma around any kind of weakness, including (especially) as it pertains to mental health.

Adam was one of the first people I contacted after the Noblesville shooting, not even thinking that he may have been one of the responders called on to head out there. I didn't even realize his son went to the school for sure.

The things that have happened in this past year--up to and including the severe bullying the poor Guerin student received at the hands of the five deplorable girls--show us that we are in greater need of mental health understanding than perhaps ever. I am so thankful for people like Adam who have gone about shedding some of the stigma away so that everyone can get the help they need when it's needed.

Superspiral Going Down

What a bizarre, frightening couple of days.

First off, click here to find the GoFundMe page for one of the men who was burned in the accident last night at Carmel High School. Thank goodness no students were hurt, but the two men are reported to be pretty badly burned, as you know.

Even more scary is the video posted by the five cheerleaders from Guerin High School. These girls are horrible people. I realize I'm really not taking much of a leap with this opinion, but I really really just want these girls to get what's coming to them. How awful for the victim here.

You have no idea how much I want to post the picture of them, the leader girl's name, her father's and mother's names, and anyone else's names if I should ever find out anything about the others. It goes against every base impulse I have not to post those things. They deserve whatever happens to them and worse.

My message to everyone out there, especially former students, is that you cannot to things like this on social media. These girls' lives may be ruined now--heck, they should be ruined. Don't do anything this dumb. Ever. Especially if you're going to look so proud of yourself while you're doing it.

Man, it makes me sick.

A Swingin' Holiday

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic holiday full of happiness and friends and family.

More to come soon!

Beware This Boy Especially

Man, I don't think I had ever seen this Christmas classic from 1971. It's definitely a good representation of the Charles Dickens story.

I have so much to say about this past week in public education, but for now I'm going to hold on to my thoughts while one generation applauds the reintroduction of cursive into the school setting while the Millennials Snap Chat how unfair it is that kids will have to learn it again.

Good luck in getting any last minute shopping done--I will be right out there with you. 

Peace On Earth

I'm not sure anything could be more peaceful than learning to paint Christmas snow with Bob Ross.

Happy Winter Break, everyone! Relax, recharge, and love your families.

Act Like It

I know I've been on a bit of a Purdue kick lately...my whole life, actually. But this was truly awesome and inspiring. It makes me want to go out there and make.

In the meantime, watch a classic Mr. Carter favorite Christmas commercial:



One more day, my finals-takers! One more day to freedom...

Made With Love

I can assure you that I am all ready for an algebra final, a geometry final, an algebra II final, a fifth grade math test, a Latin final, and that I have a lot more to learn before I can pass a biology final.

And I am not even close to being done with my shopping. I hope you all are ahead of me right now. 

The Long Long Dark

Enjoy this (actually safe) holiday special commercial from SNL.

I am fading fast and ready to go to sleep so that I can wake up and do the whole thing all over again. It doesn't help that it gets dark at roughly 4:30 pm right now.

The State of Good

I've been away for a couple days, but here's another addition to my Dojo-Advent calendar that I have added every year for a little while. I love it too much.



I also want to direct everyone to this article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal a couple days back. It really goes a long way to explain what I love so much about former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels's run as university president. Even as governor, Daniels went out of his way to find innovative ways to improve Indiana's economy, and didn't rely on political partisanship to try to accomplish his goals. Depending on who you ask, he may or may not have distanced himself form our current Vice President, but sure as anything, he's kept his mouth shut, neither supporting nor speaking out against him. But he brings to Purdue what he brought to the State of Indiana, which is a no-nonsense fiscal approach to the school while not acting out of pure capitalism, which takes some restraint as well as not pandering to those who would be looking for more money.

While I am waxing nicely about Indiana governors, I want to throw out here how proud I am of Governor Eric Holcomb for passing a law against hate crimes. The following was written in The Indianapolis Star by Brian Sloydsko yesterday:

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The spray-painting of a swastika outside a suburban Indianapolis synagogue this summer was the final straw for Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb, who quickly called for Indiana to join the 45 states that have hate crime laws.

"It's not only the right thing to do, it's long overdue" Holcomb said Friday during an interview with The Associated Press. "I'm convinced the overwhelming majority of Hoosiers feel the same way."

 You can read the rest of the article here, but I am just happy that the governor is doing the right thing, and that he has words for anyone who thinks otherwise.

It feels good when you can just feel awesome about being a Hoosier.

Just Around the Bend

As I've said earlier this week, we are in the midst of a lot of testing, finals, and high anxiety for students all over the place. College kids are finishing up their semesters and even some very nervous ones are graduating.

I hope everyone finds the time to be merry and find the holiday spirit in here somewhere. There is something better just around the bend.

Face In Hands In the Best Way

I hope everyone has someone they can embarrass this Christmas.

Watch the Quills

Take this for what it's worth. I have no kids, as you know, but I have definitely definitely seen this. I'm kind of afraid.



But this should cheer you up. I love Christmas commercials, in case you can't tell.

There Must Have Been Some Magic

You will get through this time of much testing followed by finals! I promise!

Try to enjoy this cold weather while you can, and if you are in fifth grade at Woodbrook, I formally apologize if they are keeping you in from recess because it's lower than 30 degrees (or whatever nonsense they're trying to pull now...).

High Marks

Here's a very interesting article that popped up today from The New York Times. Give it a read. It's titled "What Straight-A Students Get Wrong." I know for a fact that it was always pretty devastating for a child (let alone their parents) when a child would get their first B in the fifth grade.



In the meantime, here's another Christmas commercial to make your evening a little better.

Hope everyone has had a great weekend and will have a fantastic week ahead. 

Painted on Her Face

I know I share this one every year, but I think it might be my absolute favorite Christmas commercial ever.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Snowfall

Man, this is an oldie, but try watching it up without getting the emotions.

I hope everyone is having a happy holiday season, even though I know so many of you are experiencing your last chapter tests of the semester only to be followed by your finals.

I hope my fifth grade friends (teachers and students) have fun at BizTown tomorrow. I have to be honest--I do not miss doing field trips.

Peace and Gratitude

This article ran in The Indianapolis Star yesterday. It was written by Tyler Trent.

When I started to have trouble breathing and began convulsing in my wheelchair the morning of Sept. 25, I thought for sure my roommates would return to find a limp dead body in my wheelchair.

However, after about eight minutes, my body returned to normal. Which meant I would take my morphine to battle my daily back pain from the ever-growing tumor on my spine. Without the pain medication I was basically unable to function. So, after double-checking that I could breathe normally, I went to class.

This probably leads one to ask themselves: Why didn’t you tell anyone?

One, I didn’t tell anyone because I love my school and learning at Purdue, and didn’t want to give that away.

Two, I didn’t want to scare my family. There was already a lot of conflict and tension at home about my determination to return to Purdue this fall with the tumor on my spine, and I didn’t want to add to that.

And, three, I didn’t know how serious it was.

After much Googling and common sense in class, I figured out that the tumor growing on my L3 spine was causing me to slowly lose the ability to use the left side of my upper body, as well as my legs. (Editor's note: L3 is the third of five lumbar vertebrae from rib cage to pelvis; they  help carry the body's weight and allow movement.) The tumor paralyzed me from the waist down, but it wasn’t until my mom back home in Carmel saw that I wasn’t tweeting like normal that she realized something was wrong. So when my mom and Grandma came to visit and I had another seizure in front of them, my mom — out of concern, of course — insisted that I move back home. I was devastated, but deep down I knew it was the right decision. Unfortunately, the seizures were just the beginning of my medical problems.

I was also facing issues using the restroom, and after several tests doctors figured out that my kidneys were failing quickly, the result of almost four years of chemotherapy being pumped through my body.

In a quick turn of events for me, my doctors were telling me I had only a couple of weeks to live, and that I was going to have to live with tubes manually flushing my kidneys. These tubes would turn out to be a nightmare because half the time they don’t work, and we have to manually flush saline through my kidneys to get them working again. Unfortunately, the week of the Ohio State vs. Purdue game, this is what happened:

My tubes failed, and I had to be rushed to the hospital to undergo an emergency surgery to fix them. This was done without anesthesia. It was a nightmare come true; you can feel the operation happening but can’t stop it or scream out because of the pain. I have gained a new respect for veterans of war who had to undergo operations on the battlefield without modern medicine.

At this point you may be wondering: Where’s the gratitude? After all, isn’t that the title of this column?

Well, yes. Yes, it is.

I am extremely grateful that even though I had to endure that grueling pain and surgery, and later in the week spent an entire day throwing up and running a fever due to the surgery, I was able to attend that football game with my family and experience all the love and support. Not only from Purdue fans, but from across the nation, including Ohio State fans. While it’s hard for me to admit, props to Ohio State for their kindness and encouragement. It has been overwhelming (in a good way).

Though I am in hospice care and have to wake up every morning knowing that the day might be my last, I still have a choice to make: to make that day the best it can be. To make the most of whomever comes to visit, texts, tweets or calls me.

Yet, isn’t that a choice we all have every day? After all, nobody knows the amount of days we have left. Some could say we are all in hospice to a certain degree.

So why don’t we act like it? Where is your gratitude? With Christmas coming up, what are you thankful for? I had to write my will recently, and I’m just thankful I can give my family Christmas presents, maybe even for one last time. Let’s not forget that my doctors gave me three months to live almost two-and-a-half months ago. So why can’t we live grateful lives? Why can’t we make every day count like it’s the last?

To me, that’s what gratitude in hospice means.

 

Gonna Find Out Who's Been Naughty and Naughty

My word!

Well, tonight is Krampusnacht, or "Krampus Night", in countries like Germany. Over there, they don't coddle their children the way Americans do, as you can tell.

So I wish everyone a... uh, happy? Krampusnacht? I hope everyone has behaved this year, lest Krampus come and take you away in his sack full of naughty children.

You Only Get What You Give

This made me smile today. Happy Advent for December 4th, and I hope you all are having a great week. Tomorrow will be hump day, and then we're headed down the hill again.

I'm tired now. I promise I'll try to be a little better about being interesting tomorrow. For now, I just hope everyone is well.

Meal On Wheels

Forget the Food Network's recipes; I get my holiday cooking advice from Red Green.

41

I am a little bit late in the game, but I wanted to acknowledge the passing of George H.W. Bush, President of the United States from 1989-1993.

Bush was the President who passed Medicare Part B, approved strides in the battle against AIDS, he threw a first pitch (an actual strike, a layover from his time in playing for Yale), he fully supported the inauguration of Bill Clinton (who beat him in 1992).

He did much more than that, far too many things for me to mention here. But one thing I remember from my high school days is that George Bush was a president who held the office with dignity. He spoke with reserve and held himself high with his support during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Mr. President, I know you are happy now that you are reunited with Barbara and your daughter, Robin. I know you can rest in peace knowing you did everything you could for us all in the United States, and I know you are appreciated all over the world.

Spinning Like Crazy

Happy Hannukah!

I hope everyone has gotten some outside work done over this weekend while the working weather  is good. I know that finals are bearing down on everyone with the remaining three weeks (and what, one more week if you're in college?).

Alright, well, I need to get up and do some more work while I still have some Sunday left. I hope everyone has a great week ahead of you.