My Days Are Numbered

Seriously. Two more days.

Two more days and my time at Young Detroit Builders is over. I started the first week of September in 2006 and have been here ever since, sweating in the summer, freezing in the winter, occasionally dealing with no computer and no phone, dealing with rats living under the front steps and maggots in the stove, encountering pigeons and homeless guys in the parking lot, and teaching students all the while.

I've confiscated two knives and three cheat-sheets during my time. I've had students get killed, get shot, get jumped, and get high.

I've painted murals, wrapped the roots of trees, scrubbed floors, built planters, installed shingles, laid sod, set up chairs, taken down chairs, shaken hands, recruited, tested, and tutored.

I have seen the sun rise over the towers of downtown Detroit. I have watched the traffic whiz along Michigan Avenue. I have eaten more than my fair share of Casey's bacon cheeseburgers and become close, personal friends with the Middle Eastern guys who run the Subway a block away.

Of the students I have taught, more have passed the English portion of the GED than have not passed. I've made friends with some and, hopefully, gained the respect of most.

There have been times when this place has made me heartsick, and there have been times when it's made me sick to my stomach. More than once, I have hated being here. More than once, I have been very proud of my students.

It's over. I'm not on the schedule to teach tomorrow so I imagine I'll go to our job site where the students are working on a house and say my goodbyes. Friday, I'll teach a little, play some Scrabble, and walk out the doors a free man. Given the tendency of my boss to fire people for the least provocation, I'm sort of amazed I'm leaving here of my own accord, on good terms with everybody. (Not that amazed - it's not like I was embezzling or burned the building down or anything.)

There will be plenty of challenges in the future - packing, a wintertime move, acclimating as a family to a new town and new school for the girls, me adjusting to a new job and new coworkers, being part of a tiny ward in the middle of nowhere, etc. But I doubt anything I'll face will be quite the same as what I've encountered here over the last two years and four months. As can be said of a lot of unique experiences, I'm glad I did it and I'm glad it's over.