Thirty years in the school system leaves you with a heart full of beautiful memories—and, if you’re like me, two absolutely toasted thumbs.
Every single autumn, back in my days as a school support teacher, the physical reality of the upcoming school year would arrive in giant, heavy cardboard boxes. Thousands of them, packed to the brim with brand-new books. Slicing tape, prying back stiff cardboard, and lifting those heavy volumes left me with a parting gift of chronic tendonitis and arthritis. And of course, I wanted the job done as quickly as possible, so I’d force my hands to pick up as many textbooks as I could at a time.
