My New Old Life

I have often viewed my life in terms of before and after. There was my life before my foot was injured, and my life after amputation. I worked as a teacher for the blind before I became a mom; now I am a blogger who works for her prosthetist. My "before" and "after" lives have never collided--until recently.

While I don't miss working in the public school system and all of the paperwork associated with teaching special education students, I do miss making a direct impact. In particular, I loved working with the blind babies and their families and, at the risk of sounding vain, I was good at it. Giving up working with the babies to take care of my own was difficult for me.

As the years have passed, I have found new passions. I thoroughly enjoy working for my prosthetist, and I certainly adore taking care of Robby. I thought that I had replaced my passion for teaching and had given up on the idea of returning to the profession.

A few days ago I received a phone call from a parent whose baby I taught that threw an interesting twist into my career plans. The little girl, Abbi, has severe disabilities but a smile that is contagious. She is now 7 and, according to her parents, has not made much progress since I stopped working with her. I was asked to resume working with her privately and, to be honest, I was floored. I had never considered this as a possibility!

All of the necessary insurance requisitions were submitted by the parents and approved by the carrier before I was even contacted. After talking with the mother for a few minutes, I knew that I had to take this opportunity. I am confident that I can help Abbi and her family, and I'm excited to get started!

I never thought that I would be writing this, but I'm going to revisit my '"before" life. I'm going back to teaching. I couldn't be more excited to be returning to a career that I loved but thought that I would never see again!

This fall is going to be a period of adjustment. I am going to continue working for my prosthetist by writing his blog and maintaining his social media connections. I'll also be teaching Abbi and her family once a week. Factor in writing this blog, working on my book and taking care of my family, and I don't foresee a lot of down time. It's exciting to be busy following such different passions!