So many thoughts. I once thought about being a teacher, back when I was young (in high school). I had a first grade teacher who was absolutely phenomenal! Teacher was very much a calling for her, and you could tell. Now, granted, this was the 70s and 80s in a military base school, so the social issues teachers now have to deal with weren't all that common. Anyway, we kept in touch and one day when I was getting ready to graduate from high school, she told me, "Misty, you have neither the patience nor the personality to teach." Truer words were never spoken!

Funny, I still toy with it here and there. I wonder. Then I remember the few substitute teaching stints I did ages and ages ago (in the province I lived in, one needed only an undergraduate degree in "something" to get on the supply list.). I was a great teacher to my kids. They were reading and telling time and all that well before their peers. I took them on field trips and was able to watch their cues for readiness as far as learning. That was MY kids. Other people's kids, 30 of them? Yeah, no. I DID NOT have the patience or personality.

I'm sorry about your brother in law, but you're right, life is short, we have to follow our dreams while we can.