Angel of Thanksgiving by Henry K. Ripplinger

Author:Henry K. Ripplinger
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Christianity, Romance, Saskatchewan, Canada
Publisher: Pio-Seelos Books

Chapter Thirty-One

When Henry returned to work last fall after his year of graduate study, the School Board transferred him to Balfour Collegiate as a full-time guidance counsellor. On his first day, Henry had been surprised to see so many of the teachers he had as a student still working there! He decided to start his new position by visiting all the classrooms so he could introduce himself to the students and explain how he could help them.

In a short period of time, Henry was inundated with requests from students. Before long, his schedule could not accommodate the demand. This led to the development of group counselling programs to deal with students’ personal and career concerns. Henry invited university professors as well as other professional people in the workplace to visit the school and talk about their careers. In turn, these seminars led to work experience programs for students not wishing to go on to higher studies. Henry found his work very rewarding, challenging, and yet at times draining.

He knew he needed a better balance between work and play in his life. Outings and having fun with his family helped, but ever since the trip to Jasper that stirred the arousal of his deep and forgotten passion to paint, he had felt an irrepressible urge to explore that as-of-yet undiscovered part of himself. The art books Julean had given him upon their return only fueled his curiosity. His innate love of art had been covered over by years of study, work, and raising a family but now it surfaced regularly and he knew he had to pursue it further.

It was a visit to his old high school art class that gave him the direction he needed. One day, as Henry was walking down the school corridor toward his office, he passed by the art studio. Stopping to peer in the small window of the door, Henry saw a bunch of twelfth grade students intently studying a bowl of fruit sitting on a small table at the front of the class. Henry’s old art teacher, Robert Victor, was leaning over the shoulder of one student, passionately commenting on the painting the boy was working on. Clearly, the art teacher was still just as encouraging as Henry had found him to be when he’d attended his art classes as a student.

When the bell rang, the students poured out of the door and Henry entered the room.

“Hey Rob, looks like you’ve got a real promising group there.”

“Henry! I’m glad you stopped by. I hear you’re making quite the strides here in the counselling department. Glad to hear it.”

“Yes. It’s good to be back at Balfour. I see you’re still trying to produce a future Rembrandt.”

“Actually, I always thought you were going to fulfill that role, Henry. I’m surprised that you didn’t take any art classes at university; you had a lot of talent.”

“I wanted to, more than anything, but my faculty advisor directed me into the sciences. He said there was a shortage of physics and chemistry teachers and that the School Board was looking for teachers in that area.

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