In Loco Parentis

This weekend I did something I never thought I would do as a teacher. I gave away the bride at a wedding. Several months ago, one of my former students popped her head in the room to say that she was getting married. I stopped whatever I was teaching and congratulated her, asking for all the relevant details. I have been richly blessed to receive many notes, cards, letters, emails, and visits from former students over the years, and I always try to give each one the attentive response they deserve. When she paused and said she had something to ask me, I wondered, but could never have guessed what it would be. It was then that she asked me to give her away. After asking if this would not be something her mother should do, she said that she and her mother had talked about it and had agreed that mom would be too nervous. Deeply honored by the request, I consented.

This young lady took four years of Latin with me, was a Latin Club officer, and one of the more mature students I have taught. Her father was never in the picture, and her mother did a fine job rearing a responsible, thoughtful, caring young woman. This weekend, I had the great pleasure and honor of being part of that family in a most unusual way.

There has been much posting and discussion here and on other blogs about education, and there will be more of that here later this week, including links to resources on Classical Christian schools and a look at the appalling inability of many students today to speak or write coherently. There may even be a post about the syncretism so common among people that sees nothing odd, let along wrong, with mixing secularism, Christianity, and other faiths. For the moment, however, I would like to let this post stand as it is without further words from me. It is a picture of a blessing for a teacher who was asked, quite literally, to stand in loco parentis.