Notes From Mr. Snell's Office

America's White Table

To honor the men and women who have served in America's Armed Forces, Dodgen MS set up what is referred to as "America's White Table."  Health teacher, Roberta Fletcher, came to me a few weeks ago with this unique idea.  With my enthusiastic approval, she set a table in our school cafeteria.  The little white table we have set for Veteran's Day at Dodgen MS is just like the ones that have stood in American dining halls of the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, and Navy.  A small table is used to show one soldier's lonely battle against many.  It is covered with a white cloth to honor a soldier's pure heart when they answer their country's call to duty.  A lemon slice and grains of salt are placed on a plate to show a captive soldier's bitter fate, and the tears of families waiting for loved ones to return.  An empty chair is pushed to the table for the missing soldiers who are not here.  A black napkin is placed on the table to reflect the sorrow of captivity.  A glass is turned over to symbolize the meal that will not be eaten.  A white candle is placed on the table to reflect peace.  A red rose is placed in a vase and tied with a red ribbon in the hope that all of our missing will return one day.  It is difficult for us to understand the suffering that adults sometimes must go through to protect their families and friends that make up our great country, America.  The little white table should serve as a meaningful reminder to all of us, young and old.

I Am Thankful

As I sit here contemplating the topic for this month’s edition of the Dodgen Dateline the first thing that comes to mind is to take inventory of the things for which I am thankful.  It is, after all, that time of year.  First, I am thankful that my list includes items such as a wonderful family, adequate food and shelter, and employment at the best middle school in the United States.

Of course I could go on for many more pages.  I am blessed indeed.  How about instead, I share some things from my list that I am sure you would not have guessed? 

The baseball that has scrawled on it the words “I love you very much!,” comes to mind.  The words were written by my son when he was in Kindergarten.  He placed it in a bucket along with all of the other baseballs we used for fielding practice.  When I found it I immediately and permanently pulled it from the bucket.  It now rests in the ash tray of my vehicle so that I can look at it every day.  I don’t smoke, so the ash tray makes a perfect trophy stand.

And then there is a section of the ceiling upstairs at our home that is missing some plaster.  The small damaged area is about the size of two business cards.  It is located about twelve inches from the pull-down stairway that leads up to the attic.  You see, when my son grew tall enough he could not walk past the cord that hangs from the stairway without reaching up to give it a good swat.  This in turn caused the knot at the end of the cord to make contact with the ceiling, which caused minor damage to the plaster.  Okay, I know what most of you are thinking.  Why in the world didn’t you just tell him not to do this?  I wonder how the leading child psychologists would weigh in on the question; not that it would change my mind.  Truth is it did not occur to me that it would cause damage.  Swatting the cord was not an act that was done with intent to destroy property.  Bottom line, life is too short to stress about the little things.  Some of you reading this may argue that this is not a little thing.  We will just agree to disagree.

Oh well…  Now that my son has gone off to college I am especially thankful for those little things.  The baseball; maybe I can throw it with his kid one day.  The area of missing plaster; I think of him every time I walk past.