As you would expect, being a teacher is full of joy.  You might guess that teachers love the opportunity to learn with precious children each day, and we do.  How about staying young because you are surrounded by wonder each day?  Yes!

However, some of the blessings of teaching are surprising, and that is why you see teachers smile more than the ordinary citizen.  For example, have you ever had a cow named after you?  Yesterday on our trip to Billings Farm, I got to meet “my” bovine friend for the first time, Billings Reagan’s Blessing.  When she was born, Regan named her for me, and it an honor I will treasure my whole life long.

(A little cow trivia:  Regan taught us that cows are named with three names.  The first tells where they are born (Billings).  The middle one is for the sire, the father’s name (Reagan).  The last one you get to choose, but it starts with the mother’s first initial, which for Blessing was Bryant.  We all made up our own cow names while we were walking along by the barn yesterday.)