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3/21/2012 Hey guys - Mr. Goddard wanted to leave
you with a few things to think about. One: Bravery - one of his
earlier posts below talks about where he got so much of his ability to be brave over the last couple of months - you. And,
believe me, he was very, very brave. So, thank you Montera kids! Two:
Happiness - again, one of his posts below is about not how to BE happy, but about how to find and make happiness. He knew
that happiness is not something that happens, but something that you create by doing what you love, and taking care of the
people you love. Mr. Goddard loved music, gardening, teaching and laughing among many other things. So he did those things
every day. He loved his family (most of all his granddaughter, Raven), his friends and you, his students. So he made sure
to love all of us everyday and to do his best to take care of us. He missed you all very much and he cared about each and
every one of you and about your futures. He wants you to take care of yourselves and of each other. Three: Joy - Mr. Goddard wanted to get time to write to you about Joy. I believe he would have told
you that joy comes from paying attention to what is right in front of you and being open to what the world is showing you.
He used to say that people who are always looking down miss so much: surprising and wonderful sights, beautiful skies, the
occasional phenomenon (we saw the most amazing double rainbow ever last year!), and each other. Mr. Goddard had a gift for
seeing beauty in details and in change. Watching sixth graders become seventh graders and high-school students and adults
brought him much joy. Watching his son grow up and his granddaughter learn how to be an amazing little person absolutely filled
him with what he referred to as 'unrefined' joy. I believe he would tell you to pay attention, be aware of all the details
that make up your world and appreciate what is beautiful and funny, special or ordinary about all of those details. Pay attention
to and care for each other and yourselves and your families and you will know and experience the same simple secrets of joy
and happiness that made Mr. Goddard's life full and beautiful. Thank
you Montera and from Mr. Goddard, See ya.
Hey guys, One of the high points of each day is when I go to J-dog and check out your messages.
There are some people who leave me their news on a daily basis. The best messages are the ones that contain real stories about
school, like the one about the books being taped to the desks, slap a** Friday, and stories about what's going on with you
in your lives. What keeps me going are the connections that I still have to all of you. Keep the stories coming!!!! As always, love and care for each other. See ya, Bob Goddard
Hey guys, Every teacher has their favorite or most important lessons. Even though I'm a history teacher, my
most important lesson isn't about history. It's about being happy. It's the key to what's most important in life. You should
protect your own happiness and work to cause it in others. In my lifespan, I've met people with a lot of money who weren't
very happy. And I've met people with very little money who find ways to fuel and tend their happiness, and I consider those
people successful. So if you want to make yourself happy, take care of the happiness of other people. Whoever said, "I'm
not my brother's keeper", has it wrong. Keep and love each other. This
weekend I spent with my granddaughter from Olympia. My special name for her is Bump, and I wrote this little poem: BUMP me to the top
BUMP away my blues
then, BUMP me up another notch
BUMP
into my heart Finding ways to be happy is finding life. I'm alive.
See ya.
Hey guys, I just wanted to express my deep thanks to you
all for letting me talk to you during the Valentine's Dance last Friday. Here's how good it was: The best moment of my life
was the day that I walked out to a car in front of my house and met my granddaughter, Raven. I carried her back in to the
house not knowing if I could make it up those eight steep stairs to the living room. My knees just kind of disappeared on
me. Well, somehow we made it, and there's no question that it was the happiest moment of my entire life. Another great one
was when this Oakland boy with a continuation high school diploma earned a teaching credential. But, if I made a list of the
top 10 events where I've been my happiest, the dance Friday makes the list. Knowing the love that I give gets me so much more
back from you guys makes me know why I want to fight cancer. I'm still doing it with borrowed strength. See ya - Bob Goddard
Hey guys, all your notes and news have me in great spirits.
Thanks, I feel connected again to you guys. I've learned that I can't make promises because my health doesn't always allow
me to do everything that I want, but I guess that the word's out that I am going to try to get to the dance Friday night.
Hope to see you there. Invite your parents to come, if that's not too weird, and it will be so great to see everybody. I've
been at Montera for six years; I haven't missed a dance yet and I do not intend to miss this one.
You guys rock! See ya.
Hey guys! Thanks for all your
messages and news from school. You have no idea how that helps me to feel connected. One of the comments I hear is about me
being brave and I feel like I am able to be brave, but I want to be clear about the source of my bravery. I don't feel like
it comes from me, but rather through me. If I appear brave, it's because you help me be brave. Two of you this year have been
of particular inspiration to me. When I see Aidan moving forward every day with a smile, that inspires me. Many of you know
Aidan's story, but what many of you don't know is the bravery of another young man in your class. Atzlan has had to endure
more misfortune than anyone his age should, and to see him come to school everyday and smile and have his homework done, makes
me want to approach my life that way. So if I appear brave, understand what you're seeing - it's just your bravery, it's just
your strength reflected back at you. And so, keep the messages and the news rolling in. Help me to sustain my bravery. Special thanks to Natalie and Rachel for their daily messages. As always, back at you, Mr. Goddard.
I
always considered myself a writer, a guy who could take a simple idea and put it down onto paper so others could get it too.
As I pick up my pen this morning, this assignment, the conveyance of this idea, may be my most challenging attempt yet as
a writer. The new year brought bad news for me, the worst. My doctors
told me that I have an advanced stage, quickly moving cancer, with few treatment options. I didn't want it, can't believe
that it's part of any one else's "big plan" for me, but, oddly, I find peace with the certain knowledge of the disease's
outcome. My peace over the outcome gives me no resolve to accept
the disease. I don't plan to sit down and quietly stumble through the challenges of the next months. With the support of my
wife, Randy, my son Sam, and with the unrefined joy of my granddaughter Raven, I'm going on the offensive. I will be busy
and away from you for much of this battle. My absence from your geography doesn't mean that you guys will ever be very far
from my heart. In all fairness to cancer, someone should call it and tell it to expect a fight. None of us ever get to know how much time we have. The outcome is known, but the duration isn't.
You do the best you can in the time you have. It strikes me how this is the one idea which hasn't changed at all for me in
the last weeks. It's how I lived before the diagnosis and it's how I intend to live after it. I'm going to do my best with
all the life I have left.
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