Cup of Coffee with Katie

“Miss Burke, don’t you remember?? It was a Tuesday and we got ANOTHER brand new schedule and you told us that nothing is constant in life except for change. Well, and Jesus…you added him in there too." Of course my honest answer to that question was no. I actually have no recollection of the conversation…but I will admit it certainly sounds like something I would say so I believe him. (Don’t you just love when kids remember every detail of every word that came out of your mouth a year later? Of course it’s rarely the conversations you actually wanted them to remember…or at least the ones you planned for them to hold onto. But such is the life of a teacher or parent I suppose.) One of my astute 6 th graders said those words to me last week. I was lucky enough to move up with my 5 th graders from last year so I have a feeling we’re in for a year full of similar statements. It’s funny because just 2 days later, I finally had a moment to sit and relax (in the doctor’s office…wh...

You know how every once in awhile something happens where you just feel as if the stars are aligning or the universe has conspired to send you a message that just fits in so perfectly with where you are in life that you have to step back and say whoa?? Today was one of those days for me. See I just got back from a whirlwind weekend celebrating my grandparents’ 60 th wedding anniversary with my family. These 2 have a love story that it seems only Hallmark movies are made of these days: he was an immigrant from Ireland who stepped off a boat in New York Harbor not knowing a soul aside from his own siblings and father who had taken the trip with him. She was 1 of 4 children born into a first-generation Irish Catholic family in New York City. They met at a dance…you know the kind that happened every weekend in 1950s New York… and the rest is history. 3 children, 7 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren later, they’ve seen it all. I had a particularly lengthy chat with my grandfather ab...