Is this an early start to countdown to Thanksgiving?
Arriving in Buffalo to facilitate a professional development day with University at Buffalo Child Care Center staff. Looking out at the sea of faces of child care teachers and administrators, I was deeply affected by realizing that twenty years ago I had set in motion the foundation of not one, but two sites that the enormous and diverse, state of the art child care center has become today. I became emotional a few times during my presentation and discussions with staff, feeling proud of former students and teachers I had mentored so many years ago, now educating children with devotion and dedication for all of the campus community.
Snow falling softly in Buffalo, in mid November, just as I remember it whenI first immigrated here to America thirty one years ago. Driving with a colleague and old friend through familiar streets to the home of one of the dearest people I have ever known - a former student from my first days in Buffalo at the Early Childhood Research Center. Last night I sat at that warm dining room table laden with beautiful plates and bowls of delicious Korean foods that she lovingly prepared in my honor. We reminisced about old times and talked of days ahead. I felt cherished as if it was a homecoming.
I awoke extra early this morning filled with gratitude. Jumping out of bed in my hotel room and almost ran to the window to look at the snow covered streets below, I realized that this is, indeed, the first in my 2019 count down to Thanksgiving.
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