On Thursday, December 8, 2022, I held my last class session of the fall 2022 term. Two hundred and fourteen days later (Monday, July 10, 2023), I held my first class session since going on medical leave. Two hundred and fourteen days is 30.5 weeks. I know folks who have conceived and birthed rather healthy human beings in that length of time. The time did facilitate a sort of re-birth and was necessary in ways I couldn’t have anticipated when it began.
Maybe in 214 more days I’ll be able to more fully articulate some of the intangible, beautiful, and sacred things that happened during this time. For now, I just want to mark the official return to teaching (I still love it).
Leslie Gates 