I mean really what can you say?

I had my first day of "official" school today. I say official because it was the first day all teachers were expected to be at school to start the school year. The day looked to be a busy one, our principal had a staff meeting planned for the entire day and this is to be expected for the first day of school. This meeting always seems to be the same, a lot of this is what the district expects of you for the school year as well as time to catch up with your colleagues when ever you get a chance.

I have high hopes for the school year, after the crap I swam through last year I knew things could only get better when it came to the group of kids I would be getting to teach. The meeting in the morning went well, a lot better than I had expected it to if I were to be honest. Usually these meetings consist of sitting and listening, but this was not the case today. The one thing I did notice was one of my friends and colleagues seemed a bit off at the meeting. As we were breaking for lunch I asked him if everything was alright and he asked if he could come eat lunch in my room. I agreed and a few minutes later he was sitting before me looking like he wanted to spill his guts on to me.

Before he even began to speak I saw tears in his eyes, and then he unloaded on me some of the roughest news I have ever had to listen to. I would like to preface this by saying my co-worker has to be one of the nicest guys you could ever hope to meet. A devoted family man who will go above and beyond to do everything for his wife and two children. At school this carries over, and in the one year I have worked with him I have seen just how dedicated this man is in regards to teaching. In actuality, I see a lot of me in him when it comes for his passion for the art form. He has looked to me for guidance and I have been more than happy to share every bit of knowledge I have in regards to my knowledge of teaching.

As he sat there I really did not know what was coming next but he only said, "My wife is cheating on me." Now I have been alive 35 years and this is the first time I have had any of my friends tell me this. It also is the first time in a long time I was at a loss for words. I knew what his family meant to him, and I could see the spark that usually was to be found in his eyes was now long gone. He went on to tell me exactly how he found out, and how he was now kind of thought of as the local schmuck in the small town he lives.

I did my best to make him feel better but I am not sure if my words were heard. He was in a tough place, and it killed me to see him look and feel the way he did. I guess sometimes you get to know someone and when you find out news like this it is to be expected. With my friend the news came out of the darkness, and I can only hope that it doesn't change him internally.

On the way home from work today my mind was all over the place. Between all the thoughts of school and processing the news that was delivered to me I felt emotionally drained for the night. Then a song came on, and it was almost as if I was thrown into a discussion between my friend and his wife. It is not too often a song hits you like that, yet it happened to me today. It's odd, for 11 years the night before my first day of school I make a mix of songs to listen to for the ride into work. I do not even remember adding this to my track listing last night, but I am glad that I did now.

The last time I saw you, you turned away.
I couldn't see you with the sun shining in my eyes.
I said, 'Hello,' but you kept on walking.
I'm going deaf from the sound of the freeway.

The last time I saw you, you turned away.
I couldn't hear you with your voice ringing in my ears.
Do you remember where we used to sleep at night?
I couldn't feel you. You're always so far away.

The first time I saw you, you turned away.
I couldn't see you with the smoke getting in my eyes.
I said, 'Hello,' but you kept on walking.
I'm going deaf from the sound of the D.J.

The first time I saw you, you turned away.
I couldn't hear you with the noise ringing in my ears.
Do you remember where we used to sleep at night?
I couldn't feel you. You're always so far away.

I don't, don't want to take you home.
Please don't, don't make me sleep alone.
If I could, I'd only wanna' make you smile.
If you wanna' stay with me a while.

The next time I see you, you'll turn away.
I'll say, 'Hello,' but you'll keep on walking.
The next time you see me I'll turn away.

Do you remember where we used to sleep at night?
I couldn't feel you. You're always so far away.