"I wish I could tell you a humorous story about my work here at LACOE as a JET Mail driver, but the truth is, we come in each morning to get our mail and then we spend all our time out on the road and at the districts. So not much time is spent with my fellow drivers. I know the people on my run better than I do guys I've worked with for 28 years.
"When I took over custody of my two grandchildren, they were 1 and 2 years old, and I was in my 50s. I have two sons and I never once changed their diapers. When Richard and Raymond came, my wife left for work at 4:30 a.m., so I was responsible for their morning routine: changing their diapers, getting them dressed, and feeding them. When it was time to enroll them in school, we chose a school that was close to my work so I could drop them off and pick them up afterwards. We chose St. Dominic in Bellflower. Also, I would be close enough to go to their after-school activities.
"One discipline technique I used to help them learn the value of relationships was when they were fighting, with the object of their fight lying on the floor unused, I would tell them, 'What are you arguing about? It's about nothing.' So, rather than get angry to get them to behave like I wanted them to, I would have them sit on the floor and hold hands or hug each other. I'd go away and come back 5 or 10 minutes later and they would be laughing with each other. They had totally forgotten what the argument was about. Now they were laughing at me and my technique."
~ Ed
PS I took this interview at Ed's retirement party at the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE).
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