Past Tense

Past Tense
This one hits home for me as I ruminate on retiring from teaching. Here's a small excerpt. There's more.

"I teach.
I taught.
I will teach.

Not any more. As of today I lost two of those verb tenses. I'm down to I taught. School started yesterday and I'm not there. I am retired.

For the first time in twenty-three years, I did not carefully lay out my "back to school" outfit the night before. I did not double check the alarm clock--worried that I wouldn't get up on time. I did not have a knot in the pit of my stomach like an actor on opening night...."