A current TCS parent recently sent me the link to a blog written by one of her former teachers and mentors. In her post, this teacher quotes Robert Frost: “Home is not so much to me the place where, when you have to go there,/ they have to take you in,” as one of [his] characters asserts, but, as the next line reads, “I should have called in/ Something you somehow haven’t to deserve.”
This meaning of home appeals to me, especially now as we approach the holidays and the end of another year, and our thoughts diverge from work so we can attend to our inner selves and our families. Having lived away for over two decades now from my biological family, the place I call home has, in fact, changed for me as I’ve moved from one city to the next. In most places, home was where they had to take me in when I showed up.
The time I’ve spent in Atlanta and at The Children’s School has been different for me than other cities or schools I called home. When I speak of my love for our school, I connect emotionally and physically to something deeper within me and within the school’s core. For our students and even parents, the relationship with the faculty and staff is not just professional; it’s also a personal one. When we speak of our affection for the myriad ways in which we are all embraced for being same and different, I think of the traveler whose journey to find a home has ended and who, perhaps for the first time, truly belongs in one place. We were all such travelers once.
As we draw the curtain on another calendar year, I thank you for all you do for making TCS home for me. Each day that goes by, I know I’m accepted even when I “somehow haven’t to deserve.” Your generosity of spirit, time and treasure make the challenges we face surmountable and the opportunities we wish to seize possible.
Thank you.
For the children,
Nishant N. Mehta
Head of School
