Why I'm Making Such a Big Deal About My New Dog Otto.

I've been feeling a little guilty lately about the way in which I've been shamelessly bragging about my new dog, a Standard Schnauzer I named Otto. There is a part of me that feels I've made too big of a deal about the fact that he was an answer to prayer, that he has made such a seamless transition from the breeder's care to our home, and about what a blessing he has been to me.

There is more to this story than I have heretofore shared with my friends on Gather.com. I did disclose that I am a major depression/anxiety sufferer and that this dog would be a companion animal for me. So far, Otto has been "just what the doctor has ordered," in terms of providing the unconditional love, companionship, and joy you would expect from "man's best friend."

However, against this backdrop, my family has been hit with a couple of body-blows over the past several months. My wife Jane was in and out of the hospital with problems with kidney stones and I was experiencing problems at my job as a special education teacher.

The problems with my job stemmed from a new principal who joined our staff this year, coupled with my receiving a new assignment.

The new principal had it in for me since day one. Time and space prevent me from going into the details that would support this assertion. Suffice to say, however, that I have been the target of hers so much so that my union has filed an unfair labor practice with the Department of Labor.

My problems with her hit a dangerous crescendo about two months ago when she fabricated two incidents that almost got me in trouble with the law.

First; there were two parents that alleged that their son came home with bruises on his shoulder and neck, bruises that he got at school from me! It is not uncommon for parents to allege this type of misconduct against a teacher when there is actual child abuse taking place in the home. Fortunately for me, I have a teacher's aide in my room who was able to vouch for my innocence. She and I made it a practice that neither one of us were ever alone with the children for any length of time for this reason.

The principal, instead of asking for my side of the story (which there wasn't one, since I never laid a finger on this child), instead counseled these parents to submit their complaint in writing to the #2 person in the school district hierarchy. She knew the story was bogus and that the parents were probably covering up some problems in the home, but she instructed them on how to file a complaint as if a problem had actually occurred in my classroom.

Needless to say, this caused quite a stir at our district headquarters; a quick investigation ensued and I was immediately cleared. However another shoe, unbeknownst to me, was about to drop.

This same principal concocted a wild, and totally fabricated incident that allegedly took place with a Puerto Rican family who had a child in my room. The story went as follows.

Mr. R. advised the family that the child no longer had to take his medication, as Mr. R. would handle any temper outbursts. How would he do this? By cradling the child in his arms until he composed himself!

The principal did not state (1) How I communicated this to a Spanish-speaking only family, since I am not bi-lingual and (2) how I could do this for any period of time without my aide, and other students bringing this to the principal's attention. She simply submitted this "complaint" in writing to the Human Resources Department at our school, and I was immediately put on paid, administrative leave for 11 days while the district conducted an investigation. The Human Resources Chief interviewed each of my students (after notifying the parents of the allegations), my aide, and finally me, in the presence of my union president and a labor-relations specialist with our union.

In the interim, the Lorain Police Department conducted their own investigation. Thanks to some interference run by our Union's attorney, I did not have to go down to the police station and submit to an interview.

The police were able to ascertain the ridiculousness of this "complaint" and immediately cleared me. The district, however, was not as forgiving for some reason and put a letter in my personnel file stating that they had their "concerns" over the issue.

While this was going on, Jane was having problems with kidney stones; we were making several trips to the ER, and she had a couple of stays in the hospital before the urologist finally scheduled her to have the stones "blasted" through sound wave technology.

This is just a brief snapshot of what has been going on; I was falsely accused of a crime (twice), put on paid administrative leave, and the school district just informed me that they will not renew my teaching contract for next year. To add the final insult to injury, they put me on paid administrative leave for the rest of the year; they gave me no reason why (1) they are not renewing my contract, and (2) why I cannot continue in my present duties.

According to the union, because I am not tenured, my rights are limited; I serve at the pleasure of the school board and the superintendent. I have some appeal rights to regain my job, but at this point it is a long shot. I am now looking for work.

Somewhere along this time, my younger sister had her second child. I vaguely remember her sending me an email.  I am not lying when I say I have just NOW begun to sleep again at night. I've had to go on medication to keep from having a nervous breakdown; this has been an enormously stressful couple of months. I am hoping that the worst is over and that I can turn a new page.

I am very fortunate that I have a rock-solid marriage, the love of a wonderful wife, two beautiful children, and now Otto's companionship to help me through this very difficult time. His arrival in my life could not have come at a better time; if I've seemed like I've been bragging about him to excess, I did not mean to. I just appreciate the care in which God has taken care of me, and what the love of this little Schnauzer puppy has meant this past week.