Michael turned a corner in Rome and ran into someone he’d gone to school with 14 years ago.

I stood waiting for an elevator in Atlanta and off stepped someone I taught with in Lakeland ten years ago – who this year has been the interim principal. Well, now, I suppose it wasn’t that surprising considering that this is the National Catholic Education Association conference. No, not surprising that she’s here, but that she’s getting off the elevator in a hotel just as I’m getting on…well, that was sort of a shock. She asked about Christopher, whom she’d taught, I asked about her kids who were pre-schoolers when I knew her and now…aren’t. Time, doing that flying thing.

Well, guess who else I met? The famous Anonymous Teacher Person was in attendance at NCEA, and made all sorts of elaborate child-care arrangements so we could meet up – so after I vacantly wandered the empty exhibit floor (and sorry for anyone who went looking for me at the OSV booth in the exhibition hall that isn’t open until tomorrow. Er…I guess I should have checked.) , looking for OSV people to tell me where my talk was tonight, ATP and I walked over to the CNN Center and grabbed some dinner in a place there, and marveled how different it is to dine without two-year olds throwing bread across the room.

I then hot-footed it back to the hotel – I’d taken the shuttle bus over, but it wasn’t running at this point, and even if it were, I would have walked because it was so…painfully…slow…I wanted to jump out and push it. It’s not that far, anyway.

What I can’t get out of my head are the memories of our time in Atlanta, at this very hotel, two years ago. We were in attendance at the Christian Booksellers’ Association convention, but the more interesting thing was that the National Federation for the Blind was having its national convention in the hotel. For several days, we lived among guide dogs and canes, tap-tap-tapping. It was fascinating to see how these folks navigated and coped, sometimes with help, sometimes without. To observe how the hotel staff had been trained to assist. The experience provided a bit of food for thoughts, as we walked among the Christians as well as aomng the physically blind. This time around…it’s definitely not the same. Something’s missing!

Talk went fine – to various parish DRE’s, I’m guessing. One priest in attendance who spoke to me about his bishop’s concerns about DVC and plans for the next couple of months – the fellow definitely gets it – he is, according to this priest, determined not to make it a "Catholic response" kind of issue, but rather a response centered on the truth about Christ, which I think is the right way to go. There was talk early on about having "A Catholic Response" be a part of the title to my book, which I strongly vetoed.  It’s not about being a "Catholic" response – it’s simply about the truth. And titling the book "a Catholic response" would immediately turn off a number of readers and imply a limited, agenda-driven, defensive, content, which is not what I did.

My point? Teachers are always clamoring for "teachable moment." Got yer teachable moment right here…come and get it!