Mr. Gordon

Some blog posts are much more difficult to write than others.  This is one of the difficult.  I had the privilege and opportunity to work with one of the finest young men you would every know.  His name, Mr. Gordon, known by all students and faculty at Mackay Elementary School.  On a daily basis, we would find something to laugh about.  He truly made me a better person just by being in his presence.  He has changed my way of thinking about many situations and how I handle them.  He was always cheerful and had a positive outlook on everything.  On Tuesday, our dear Mr. Gordon passed away, at the young age of 27.  I took a few pictures of him last year in the classroom setting and wanted to share.  He was one-of-a-kind!  In this first picture, he was trying to blow the insides out of an egg.  Look how red his face was........he could not get the insides to come out, even after bending a paperclip out straight, sticking it in the hole and stirring up the white and yolk together.  Some of his remarks on this were hilarious and we laughed forever.

He was a gentle, caring man.  The children really love him.  Not just the Kinders, but all grades knew Mr. Gordon.  Each morning, our little classroom was filled with children of all ages playing and visiting until the bell rang for school to start.

With Mr. Gordon, you never knew what to expect.  He literally was a man of many hats.  Whether it be his talents or his comical side, he wore the hats.

 Here he is speaking at his first graduation of the Kinder class.  The graduating class of 2011.  He was so proud!

I can't put in to words all this young man was.  As an example, he brought an old chair into the room at the beginning of the year for me to use.  He actually set up my own space to use with a desk, computer, and everything I needed to feel like I had my own space and I was someone.  He always thanked me, daily for the things I did.  Now, back to the chair..............I love this old, blue chair and I always asked Mr. Gordon to talk to his brother and his wife (owners of the blue chair) and see if they would sell it to me because the one I have at home, well, lets just say it's seen its day.  We've joked about this chair ever since the beginning of the school year.  Last evening, just one day after his passing, his mother called and asked if she could come over.  When they (Gordon's mother and her husband) got to our home and I opened the door to invite them in, they presented me with a brand new computer chair.  She said Gordon had bought this for me on one of his trips to the doctor.  She said he really wanted to get me a chair and when they went to the store, and in his weakened state, they wheeled the chairs to the front of the store for him to try out, picking the one pictured below, just for me. Even in his passing, Mr. Gordon is here, taking care of  me, Mrs. Sayer.  No matter how old and feeble I get or how old and tattered this chair may become, it will always be a part of my life.