For me, the highlight of each final faculty meeting was the last item on the agenda. This was when Deborah presented a brief anecdote about every faculty and staff member, after spending what must have taken countless hours of preparation. She also managed to find an object that symbolized each one. I looked forward to this part of the meeting because these little stories were thoughtful, humorous, and always insightful.
The second semester of the 1994-1995 school year had been unexpectedly challenging for my teaching partner, Bob, and me. That Spring I had major surgery that had at least a six-week recovery time. During the second week of my absence, Bob tore his Achilles tendon while practicing for a student-faculty basketball game. With both of us out of the classroom, the students became uncharacteristically mischievous. Some wouldn't cooperate with our substitutes, well-educated parents the students knew and loved. Because of this situation, Bob returned to school full-time after a week, but had to sit with his foot elevated or hobble around on crutches when he got up. I returned to work part-time after only three weeks—it was brutal for both of us. To make matters worse, I was also contending with serious, ongoing problems with my husband, my children’s stepfather.
The 1995 year-end meeting concluded with Deborah presenting her anecdotes about Bob and me. Then she gave each of us a purple heart made by her young daughter. Everyone in the room burst out laughing, including Bob and me. Finally, she quietly handed me a paper with excerpts from the 1986 book, "St. George and the Dragon and the Quest for the Holy Grail" by Edward Hays. I was deeply moved by Deborah's subtle acknowledg-ment of the challenges I had faced during the school year and the encouragement she had given me. Every time I read these passages I feel strengthened and inspired.
"All of us have wounds—old ones and new ones—and whenever the monster appears, whenever hell breaks loose, we know that our old wounds are talking, guiding us. It is these wounds that must be confronted and not us poor dragons."
"First you must not give in to the voice of the scars, the voice of the times you trusted and were betrayed, loved and were rejected, did your best and were laughed at. Do not give way to the scars left because you were slighted or were made to feel less than others. Instead, when those voices call to you to react with envious or jealous feelings, do exactly the opposite. When they say, 'run away,' you must stay. When they whisper, 'distance yourself,' then come all the closer. You must transform their power, not destroy it! That, my friend, is really being involved with a quest."
"You are sent to heal yourself, the family, and the world with your wounds." And with that the great old dragon leaned over and, kissing me, enveloped me in a cloud of flaming breath.
− SOURCES –
~ St. George and the Dragon and the Quest for the Holy Grail by Edward Hays was
published in 1986. [The passages in this post can be found on pages 13-16.] The book
is available to read on Internet Archive (link above), a non-profit, free digital library
that has books, printed material, music, movies, and more.
~ Wikimedia Commons: Red Chinese Dragon
(User:RootofAllLight: CC-BY-SA-4.0 Attribution-Share Alike International)
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Bradish-Scott Family History – June 2025