Mary Jo Buff:  

OK, so I will admit I'm not the "normal" teacher. I am a middle-aged seeker, who just happens to love angels. I don't worship angels; I'm just fascinated with the idea of wings enfolding me. I cry at sappy movies and avoid the scary ones. I love to read, yet often find it difficult to share my personal writing with others. My name is Mary Jo Buff. I have been married almost thirty-five years to my best friend and the only man I have ever loved, Randy Buff. He has been employed at Alabama Power Company for over 33 years. Together, we have one son and daughter-in-law, a precocious 15 year old grandson who plays football and is growing up too quickly, a beautiful, 4 year old granddaughter who delights us every weekend she visits, and the cherished memories of a teenage daughter who passed away in 1995. I enjoy collecting angel figurines and pictures, journaling, working with students on an individualized basis, taking and teaching courses as my schedule will allow, presenting academic research at conferences throughout the United States, and growing in my personal faith. As a "life-long" learner, as well as teacher, I actively seek new opportunities to grow; like all of you, I am a heroic traveler on a quest for knowledge, enlightenment, and personal growth. Even as a young child, I dreamt of teaching. I would sit in Sunday school classes and observe my teachers, and then go home and repeat the lesson for my younger brothers. I thrived on reading every book I could find; here, I could travel to exotic places such as Mt. Fuji, Europe, and the West Indies. As I read these stories, I became the characters: I was the little princess, struggling to survive as a servant in a boarding school in England, Mary Lennox, surviving deadly disease in India and finding into her own secret garden with friends on the moors of England, and Robinson Crusoe, creating a new life on a deserted island in the Pacific. Through books, I envisioned a new world and a perfect life. Yes, I would become a great writer¿sharing my tales with the world! As a result, by junior high school, I began writing poetry and journaling on a daily basis. As I wrote, I found an outlet for my pent-up emotions. Like the young and brave Anne Frank, I used my diary as a chronicle to store my thoughts of a harsh and cruel world. During my 7th grade year, my fifteen year sister became very ill. Although I was told she had pneumonia, her situation worsened rapidly. I can still remember the nights she would cry out in pain, yet the only medication she received was liquid paregoric. My medication was writing, and I wrote down everything that I thought and felt. I still remember that bittery lemon smell as Sissy cried herself to sleep beside me in our bed. By December, my Sissy was dead¿I later found out she had acute leukemia, yet her illness and death caused me to retreat even further into my books and writing. My parents, however, handled their grief differently. My father drank; my mother yelled and took her bitterness out on her remaining four children by becoming hardened and cold. During this time¿perhaps because I did not feel love at home, I became best friends with a wonderful Christian, Regina, and longed to be a part of her Christian family. After band practice, Regina and I would plan how we would become sisters. First, though, I had to find one of her three brothers that I liked!!! Randy, her oldest brother was a young "preacher boy: as Pastor Jack LeGrande called him. That's what I longed for--someone who loved Jesus and wanted to serve HIM just as I did. Randy graduated high school a year ahead of me and left for Tennessee Temple Bible College. For a time, it seemed as if my dreams would stay simply dreams, but then, at the end of my senior year, I received a scholarship to Montevallo, and my future brightened. When I talk of the University of Montevallo, I often mention my fantastic journey. For me, UM became a pivotal turning point in my life¿s journey. Although when I entered the University of Montevallo as a freshman in 1972, I had the desire to learn, I lacked direction and purpose for my life. At UM, with the help of caring professors and mentors, some of the most caring and Godly people I have ever known, I was able to escape from the ungodly home to which I was born. I gained my wings and began my flight into the professional world. After Randy returned from Vietnam in 1973, I married. Several years later, we started our family, but I also earned a degree in education, and secured a position as a teacher, and entered a prestigious graduate program in Education at the University of Alabama. While at UA, I was nominated for the Teacher in Space program. Nothing could stop me, except for a more important dream, which was part of God's plan for my life. After I had made the state semi-finals of the Teacher in Space program, I found an even higher calling--another opportunity for motherhood. That next August, my daughter, Bekah, was born. After a year at home with Bekah, I taught in Christian schools so that I could be with my children and teach as God had called me to do. For a time, I experienced an almost idyllic life as a wife, mother, and educator. Then, one Sunday in April, tragedy struck our family. My thirteen year old daughter was not feeling well that morning, so I left her at home while I drove a mile and a half to our church to teach my Sunday School class. Randy, too, was teaching a Sunday School class, so after the Sunday School time, I left Randy at church and returned home. When I pulled into the driveway, I sensed that something was wrong. As I entered through the back porch, the door was wide opened. As I quickly entered, I searched for Bekah. She was no where to be found. I went outside and called her name--no answer. Then I noticed the gate to the farm behind us was opened. As I walked down the lane, I found my precious daughter barely clinging to life. By that afternoon, Bekah was dead. Afterwards, I plummeted into a deep abyss and my wings were almost destroyed. I questioned my faith in God, as well as faith in myself and my abilities to teach. I had failed as a mother and I didn't want to fail anyone else. By far, these were the darkest, most terrible years of my life. For a time, I wandered aimlessly through each day with no purpose or identity. How could I teach? I had failed as a mother SO miserably. I left Bekah at home; I did not sense the conflict of a young teen. Rather than walk away teaching entirely, a dear friend encouraged me to "help out" as part time tutor / English Instructor with Upward Bound, a great program for high school students. Over the next few years, I returned to UM to pursue a second bachelor's degree and then, graduate studies in English. I also began a wonderful association with the University of Montevallo's Harbert Writing Center as a graduate tutor. Over the last 14 years, I have found new purposes and paths to pursue in life, and especially at UM. Through creative writing and constant journaling, I was able to ease my guilt that I, alone, did not sense Bekah's turmoil. Education has been an important part of my life's journey. It has not only given me wings to soar and explore, but I have also been able to help and watch my husband return to school and successfully obtain degrees in criminal justice, pre-law, and his MBA in bu...Expand for more