After a year of preparation the time has come.
Today was my Retirement mass! Not everyone gets one of these. One of the perks of being an Irish primary school teacher. Sure you can't beat a good mass Ted.
And today was just fabulous. We bussed all the pupils to Jordanstown church and they were brilliant. It was only when it was over that I realised it had taken 1 and 1/2 hours and they were on their best behaviour.
If any priest takes an hour and a half to say Sunday mass, he would soon have an empty church.
I had myself syced up not to cry but the moment the opening note of the hymn began, I was gone. It was because I recognised that voice. It was a past pupil Megan, who was my protégé from Infants. I was so humbled that she took a day off college to come and sing at my mass. I was even more so when I recognised that she was singing hymns that I had trawled the internet for, to showcase her voice, all those years ago.
I managed to hold it together for most of it. Fr Michael's speech, which would have brought a tear to a stone. Then there was the beautiful after-Communion reflection on Retirement read by a member of the Parents' Association, who just so happened to have been in my very first class that I taught when I came to Baconstown in 1986.
On a lighter note.......
Readers of my other blog "A Girl For All Seasons" know that I am about halfway through a year of not buying any new clothes, except for emergencies. Well I figure retiring is a major emergency.
I was like a kid in a candy shop when I went shopping in Zara. I eventually settled on a hot pink suit!
I am going out with a bang!
"Stunning."
I stood for a moment in disbelief!
That boy will go far in life. Give him a gold star!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment