Forgiveness Frees

It was an early Thursday evening and my wife was craving a banana split.

After debating about which ice cream shop was still open and would they have banana splits I decided to go to a nearby grocery store called Publix.

I walked in and began my search for the ingredients - chocolate syrup, whipped cream, maraschino cherries, bananas, and vanilla ice cream. I passed by the deli counter and saw a woman talking with a man. She looked familiar. I dismissed it and went on with my shopping. As I left the ice cream aisle a few minutes later, a person passed by, we both looked up. It was the same woman from earlier. This time on closer look, it was her.

Twenty years ago I was in a different place emotionally and mentally. I had just been fired for the first time in my life. I had taken a stand against the actions of an administrator who was involved in some very bad things. Because I had spoken to a newspaper reporter to confirm a meeting I had just attended, this administrator used that as a violation of my contract and dismissed me - the day before school started.

I shook it off and was able to end up working for a local tutoring agency. I was able to work with some wonderful families helping high schoolers prepare for their SAT exams. The woman who ran the agency was impressed with my work and eventually promoted me. My duties included scheduling and helping out when other tutors were not able to come into work. The work though became hard. I was teamed up with another person who’s job was to sit at her desk, answer the phone and paint her nails. When I asked for help I was refused. I decided to complain to my boss. Big mistake. I was told that it was I who was creating a toxic work environment. It was also brought to my attention that my desk wasn’t up to her specifications. She walked me over to my desk with a ruler and measured and explained how far apart items were to be on my desk.

I was on her hit list and soon enough she had had enough of me. I was fired from another job, my second in six months.

A lot has happened since then. I was able to find another teaching job which led to moving beyond my comfort zone, learning new things. I was named teacher of the year at one school. I was selected by C-SPAN to be an Education Fellow and got to spend the summer in D.C. I now have my dream job working from home in an online school program.

I’ve looked back at that time and it has taken me a while but I can honestly say I’ve been at peace about it for some time. Somebody once said, “Forgiveness frees you more than the one you forgive. Anger chains the soul. Release it and reclaim your peace.”

For a brief moment we stared at each other. You could see the dawning on her expression that she recognized me but wasn’t able to place the name with the face. I didn’t feel there was anything to be said. So as the slow motion ended and went back to regular speed I walked on towards the next aisle to look for those maraschino cherries that my wife wanted for her banana split.