Back To School and Reunions

1. What is your earliest memory of school?

I had just turned 5 years old and my parents placed me in kindergarden at the First Baptist Church. It was not a mandatory thing back then was usually run out of a church. My brother had just been born and we had moved to a new town. My daddy had just started DPS school in Austin and was gone. We moved back to the same town where both sets of grandparents lived and several aunts and uncles. That way, my mom would not be alone with 2 small children. They put me in kindergarden because they thought that I would like it and make alot of friends. Neither of those things happened. My daddy had been a farmer for the first few years of my life so he had been my friend and now he was gone and there was a new child in the house. I cried at kindergarden each and every day. Not, *oh she cried until you left Ma'am*. More like *yes Ma'am, she has cried each and every minute since we peeled her off of your leg and had to physically carry her into the class room*. At the end of 30 days, they asked my mom not to bring me back.


2. Who was a favorite teacher in your early education?

Mrs. Chevout in the 4th grade. She made it all so fun. Each 6 weeks we would study something different and she always had the most wonderful ways to weave that into the classroom. We ate Japanese dinners, made memory books, learned the Mexican hat dance....it was all just so much fun and there was an excitement to it. I can still remember her reading *Island Of The Blue Dolphin* out loud.

3. What do you remember about school “back then” that is different from what you know about schools now?

I do not know that ANYTHING is the same!! We never started until after Labor day. I am sure alot of that had to do with us not having any air conditioners in any part of the school. My son is studying things in math that I have never seen in my life.

Also, there were RULES and by god you followed them! If you did not, there were swats with a paddle. There was no calling of the parents.

4. Did you have to memorize in school? If so, share a poem or song you learned.

I memorized alot in school because I loved speech and drama and threw myself into those two things.

5. Did you ever get in trouble at school? Were there any embarrassing moments you can share? OMG....Mrs. Hagan in the 5th grade. Looking back now I can she that she was just not a happy lady. To 5th graders, that came across as just flat out mean. It was Christmas and she had decorated the class room. She had a big stocking on her classroom door with her name on it. When everyone came in the room from recess, we instantly knew something was wrong because all of the Christmas decorations were gone...vanished! She informed the class that there would be no Christmas in her room that year because someone had put rocks in her stocking. Therefore, Christmas was cancelled. 5th graders are still young enough to think that an adult had the power to do that. I can remember thinking that she had cancelled all of Christmas. I just knew the tree and presents would be gone when I got home and was greatly relieved when I go home to learn that her power did not reach that far. To this day, I have no clue as to who did it. I also think that she acted hastily cause it could have been anyone in the school not just her 5th graders! I do know this, after her little hissy fit, a whole classroom on 5th graders could think of 1000 worse things to stick in that old biddy's stocking!





I just got a letter inviting me to my 25th school reunion. OMG....25 years. It honestly does not seem like it ought to be that long. I have never been back for a reunion. I am back home all of the time and I may even be in Clarendon the weekend of the reunion but I will not be attending.

Why you ask? Because I feel like a loser around those people. I do not know why in the world that intimidates me but it does. I am very confident in the fact that I am not a loser at all. In fact, I am much more successful than many of them but I am reduced to a stupid loser teen any time I think about making contact with them. I had a girlfriend from my classs who I thought I was really close to. When my ex and I divorced, I guess my ex got custody of her because she feel away from my life. I understand now that she did that because my ex and her husband was (is still??) friends. At that time, I needed her and she was not there for me. That was one of the hardest lessons that I have ever had to learn in my adult life. Men can hurt us. Woman can hurt us and leave us bleeding. To me, a woman's betrayal is even worse. I am in contact with 2 people that I graduated with and I see them from time to time and we keep up through emails but there is honestly no one else from that chapter in my life that I have the desire to see. I Does that make me a bad person?

I have deep rich relationships with many of the women I work with (teacher is included in this). I count them as my true friends. Heck, there are many of you out there that are reading this that I feel the same way about even though I may never have never met you face to face. All of those women are the women that I can call crying or zip off a quick email and know without a shadow of a doubt that I am immediately being lifted up in prayer or being taken care of in some form or fashion.

There is not a one of them that I have a desire to see. Does that make me a horrible person? And if you tell me if does...I still Am. Not. Going.

And no one will ever miss me.