All day long, the young teacher anxiously went about her
duties collecting milk money, setting out paper and crayons as she introduced a
new group of kindergarten students to all that was before them in the coming
school year. However, the teacher’s mind was elsewhere, a short drive away with
her 7-month-old baby boy at a babysitter’s house for his first day. That
morning the young teacher/mom had reluctantly left her son with a seasoned
babysitter with whom she trusted. However, the teacher’s mind returned to her
son all day long with questions: Would he be okay, would he take his nap, will
he cry, would the babysitter pay enough attention to him while also watching
four pre-k children? The young mother resisted the urge to phone the babysitter
to see how their day was going. As
an occasional lump came to her chest and she thought about her son, she fought
back tears throughout her day. The teacher realized 22 five-year-old students had
been left by their parents and also required her full attention. “I will just
have to trust that Jason is okay and make it through this day”, she thought.
In 1977, I was a 24-year old mother and kindergarten
teacher. My husband, Kim, was a high school theater arts teacher. Our plan had
been for me to stay home with Jason and not teach that year. The strain of
paying bills led me to return to work. Leaving Jason that first anxious day of
school so I could return to work made for a stressful day. At the end of the day, I rushed back to Baytown from Highland as fast as I could. As I approached a traffic light and
yellow turned red, I proceeded down the road and a policeman pulled me over to
discuss running red lights. I began to cry and attempted to explain that I had
left my 7-month old baby boy with a new baby sitter for the first time and was
anxious to get back to him. I
guess the policemen had pity on this new mom because he let me off with a
warning to drive safely.
Soon after I left the police encounter, all my fears were squelched
as I saw Jason in the capable hands of Aunt BeBe, as her “kids” affectionately
knew her. She gave me a glowing report of his day while he happily smiled at me.
We really loved Aunt BeBe and could see her apparent love for all the kids in
her care. Our second son, Kyle, would also stay with Aunt BeBe up until the
year Jason was 5 years old. After which we found another lady to watch our
brood of little boys who grew in number with the birth of son number three,
Ryan, and Jason entered kindergarten.
Now, thirty-six years later, Dr. Jason Kelly Martin began this
school year as the Clinical Director of the Community Life Center, and
Assistant Professor of Counseling at the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor in
Belton. My interest about whether he is having a good day or what he is doing still
pops into my thoughts, but of course I trust he is doing fine. Accomplished in
his field of study alongside being a wonderful husband and dad, Jason makes my
heart swell with love and pride to be his parent.
All of my sons make me proud. It has and continues to be a fun ride with the boys, so my motto remains as always, There is never a dull moment. Wherever their lives take them, I am more than willing to be part of the journey.
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| Jason, Ryan, Kyle about 1984 |
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| Ryan, Kyle, Jason, summer 2013 |
