Sentiment | Alden Ehrenreich

Overwhelmed

Overwhelmed (v.)
—be too strong for; overpower

The past few months had been rougher than ever. Alden was away constantly for filming and the end of the year was coming up quick and for yourself being a Spanish teacher, exams were upon all of your students both extremely talented and failing. Fear sat in your stomach for not only the outcome for your students but for Alden's safety both on set and traveling back and forth between locations. The world was a crazy place and you just wanted him in one piece.

As you listened to the oral responses your students recorded, you felt almost trapped between a rock and a hard place. As you heard the recordings of some of your most beloved students that only were able to speak a sentence or two, your foot nervously tapped against the hardwood floor. You wanted to pass these incredible children, but you just couldn't. As you entered a new assignment in the grading portal titled "Examen oral," the first few grades were entered very low. The first two were Fs at 50% out of the district rule that you had to give them at least that amount. You sat back from the laptop, rubbing your temples and eyeing the picture of you and Alden one of your students took for their photography class for a family photo assignment.

"Holy shit, I miss you," you whimpered to yourself, feeling something inside of you just eating up every last piece of you until you were actually full-on crying on your couch.

A text came over your phone, causing your eyes to drift to it and for you to wipe away your tears.

So, like, I kind of forgot my key again and need you to let me in???

Key's in the rabbit statue.

Soon enough, Alden and his suitcase came through the door, looking more exhausted than ever. With the crew needing to look into some new equipment and a possible change in directing staff, all actors and crew members were sent home from the production of Solo.

"I've just really needed to see you," you both blurted, just as in time with each other like before he left. He left his suitcase and quickly closed the front door, hurrying to your side and holding you close. "Life is a literal shit show right now." He shushed you, trying his best to console you through his tired haze. "I've already failed two kids on speaking. That's too much. I practice speaking every day and they all do so well," you cried, the burning sense of being overwhelmed by your disappointment taking over.

"Hey, sweetheart... Shh... sweetheart, listen to me," Alden murmured, pulling back slightly from the hug to wipe your eyes and press his forehead against yours in the sweetest of ways. "I know how much you love your kids. Those kids mean the world to you and I know how disappointed you are right now, but you need to breathe, okay? Let's close the laptop and just sit here for a minute." You carefully reached over and closed the lid of your computer.

"That's a little bit better, see? Now you're not looking at it. I don't want you getting upset over something you can only control so much. You speak with them every day, but not all kids are going to be perfect. You're doing an amazing job and every time I visit your class, they rave about you. Even the kids that struggle rave about you. Those kids love you and I know I love you just as much or even more. You're all trying your best. Not everybody just takes five years of Spanish in high school and gets a degree in Romance Language Education just for shits and giggles."

Hearing just the term "shits and giggles" was enough to make you at least laugh a little bit, causing him to chuckle along with you. "See? It's okay. The world isn't falling apart and fire isn't falling from the sky." And he was right. Everything was okay right then and there. Taking a break from your grading, the two of you laid together on your couch, sleep-consumed smiles adorning both of your faces as you admired each other and all you have accomplished both separately and together.

Hey guys! This is your daily reminder to take care of yourself and to take a break every once in a while. Even the best of the best need to sit down and take a moment every now and again, so be sure to do that. Self-care is key in this life and will help you more than you know. Also, I'm sorry if you're not too familiar with Spanish. I just find the language really interesting, so I decided to include it in an aspect of this. It won't be in every imagine though. I hope you all enjoy this and I'll catch you on the flip side!
—Mackenzie