I found the manuscript you are about to read while sorting out my mom's stuff after she died. Mom writes that "the school of suffering graduates rare scholars," and she is undoubtedly an example. This memoir was, as she writes, the end of an era and the beginning of another. She taught for the Department of Education until she retired in 2011. At the end of her teaching career, all told, she had taught in several states, multiple counties, and cities, for over 40 years. The end of this memoir is only the beginning. Mom went on to live a beautiful life. It would be impossible to calculate the lives she touched. This memoir is a story about family, love, passion, and change. It is a story of a wounded warrior finding the strength to move on, recover from heartache, and start again. It is a hero's journey. I'm so humbled that Mary Jo Reaser was, is, and will always be my mother.