The BIG day!
This post get posted on both blogs. Because it’s that important.
A little background to why this is a BIG day….
This year my wife Michelle and I celebrated several things. First, In April, We celebrated my 30th birthday. The following day we celebrated our 11th Anniversary. In May we celebrated our oldest daughter’s 11th birthday. In August we lit the candles for Michelle’s 30th and my youngest daughter Emily’s 7th birthday. The reason these days are significant today is something we rarely speak of in the Golbeck house. We have been incredibly blessed with 2 beautiful daughters, however it has not come without hardship.
For those of you who have not done the math from the previous paragraph I will do it for you. We were 18 & 19 years old on our wedding day and the day our first daughter arrived. This is a difficult way for any family to start out. We were both just starting college, we had very little to our names, and we are forgotten about and avoided by most of our friends. These reasons alone are enough to ruin any young family, or at bare minimum, give them an excuse for failure. In our house that was not an option. We were lucky enough to have tremendous support from our families. If we needed a babysitter, a little extra time for homework, or some assistance with college bills there were 2 sets of parents willing to lend a hand.
We battled though 1998 until 2000 while I fast tracked my education ad was able to graduate in 3 years. At this point life became a little easier. We were able to buy a house, we welcomed our second daughter to the family, and we even got a dog. For most families this would have been enough. But only a small part of the story is told at this point. Because another part of this family was still working away in the background to accomplish her goals.
Michelle was able to take the random class while I was going to school. Then when I finished in 2000 she picked up the baton. Unlike my sprint Michelle’s college race needed to be a marathon. Her days were filled with babies, then preschool, then elementary school, and soccer, and dance, and piano, and keeping a clean house, and putting up with me. This would be plenty for an average person. But Michelle is no average person.
For the past 9 years I have watched her do all the things a good Mom does, then put her kids to bed and either spend the evening working on homework or going to class. Which leads us to today, a day nearly 12 years in the making. Today Michelle will finish her last day of student teaching. She will be officially done and an honest to goodness certified teacher (note: that is certified, certifiable comes after you work as a teacher for 10 years or so). I could not be more proud. She is everything you would possibly want your kids to get as an elementary school teacher and I am positive that she will be that teacher everyone asks that their kids are placed with.
Beyond the effect she will have the generations of children in the Crystal Lake area is the effect she has had and will have on the people in her life. Growing up I was fortunate enough to have 2 parents who not only taught me to work hard and you will succeed but showed it to me on a daily bases. I would like to think that I have done my part to do the same for my kids. I know that Michelle has. She has taught her girls an infinite number of lessons with her actions and attitude. Today is a celebration of all things Michelle. Congratulations to her and and her new career!