There are different definitions for the word 'grounded'. As a parent, the definition that comes first to mind is the one where the parent utters, usually in frustration, "You're grounded!" Now I realize that grounding children only cramps the parents' style, not the kids'. To send a kid to their room these days only means doing what they would prefer anyway.....spending time alone in the room where most of the 'toys' are. As an adult, I eagerly await the day now when someone will yell at me, "Go to your room and don't come out until I say so!" I will know then, for certain, that I have died and gone to heaven.
If an airline pilot is 'grounded', it means that he or she has been temporarily forbidden to fly - usually for medical reasons.
The other definition of 'grounded' is when, you might say, an individual has his or her head 'screwed on straight'. "She is a very grounded person."
Tonight I spent a truly enjoyable evening with a group of people (as it happened, all women) who represent a period of time in my life where I was very grounded. It was a reunion of parents and teachers, past and present, who were associated with the small school district where I taught the longest string of years in my education career. Having worked for many school districts, I can say, with all authority, that this little district is a one-of-a-kind. Viewing it retrospectively, I know now what I thought I knew then, that this was a very special school climate in which to work. I used to joke that it was the water, but, in reality, it was the parents and tonight's reunion dinner drove that home to me.....again. I cannot put a name to it but the forty-plus mothers and teachers that came together to check up on one anothers' lives, to hear what former students are doing, where they are attending college and what they are majoring in simply reaffirmed what I have always known.
It was a special time and place in my life.....an experience that enriched my life as much or more than I may have influenced the lives of others. For that I am grateful.
I was 'grounded' on Earth Day. How appropriate.
Ancora imparo
