It's Time to Reconnect

I have a friend that I don’t see as often as I would like. Yet when we make the time to hang out, it’s like old times immediately. We laugh and enjoy each other’s company; I think we are comfortable with each other because our shared history binds us. She knows just about everything there is to know about me, yet she still loves me. Because of her unconditional acceptance, I like who I am with her. 

This blog is sort of like that friendship, and frankly, I hope that I can step back into my relationship with you and that it can be like old times. I hope that our shared history will support us as we reengage. 

Where have I been?  

A little over a year ago I took a temporary teaching position as the middle school ELA (English Language Arts) teacher at Holy Spirit Catholic School in Goddard, Kansas. It was thrilling and a little terrifying to be thrown back into the classroom after three decades. So.much.had.changed. 

Yet. So much remains the same. Middle school students, my favorite age group, live with their hearts—for the most part—guarded. They want to fit in, to belong, to be seen. Last year, as I figured out curriculum and schedules, I realized that I was also on a journey of the heart, where those middle school students, through their writing and the conversations we were having around their writing, were opening up to me. 

That opening is why people teach. It’s like we are in an over-grown field filled with weeds and gnarly underbrush. But then, as we hack away at weeds and tend to the soil, day after sweaty day, there comes a time when we turn around and find flowers bursting in full bloom all around us. 

That blooming, that opening up, is why I am going to keep teaching. 

The other reasons: I love love love our principal and priest: Mr. Brandon Relph and Fr. Joe Eckberg. It also helps to have small classes (10-12 students each), a phenomenal staff and highly engaged, supportive parents. 

With all of that being said, I still miss writing. I am going to pick up the blogging again. I know I can do both because I have learned, slowly but surely over the last year, how to take care of Lori. I am going to write more about that in my next blog post.​
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Thank you for reading this, thank you for staying with me. 
 
Now, if this is not your place, if you don’t feel the connection, it is okay. We all have to find our tribe. If you are new (Welcome!) and are not sure who I am: let me do a quick intro. My name is Lori Doerneman, Catholic mom of eight (mostly grown) children and three GORGEOUS granddaughters. I started writing in the late 1990’s when my first three kids were little. I loved those babies to the moon and back, but I found that many days were incredibly difficult; I couldn’t make sense of the intensity of mothering. I was strong; why did three children under four years of age make me feel so out of control? That is when I started writing to other moms. It was my lifeline. 

As I have aged, and my children have matured, I still ponder our role as mothers. I still want to do this well. Writing helps me do that. 

It feels good to climb back into this worn and comfortable saddle. I have missed you, and I would love to hear about you and your life. You know where to find me: [email protected].

My next post: Restoration vs. Relief. 

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