MeRrY ChRiStMaS!

A Memory as I Recall It

While searching in my recipe box for
holiday cookie favorites, I came upon this old
photo which graced our fridge for years.
I switched it to the safer
environment of the box as
I felt it had garnered enough
kitchen character.
It wasn't taken at Christmas, but somehow
the sticker frame and the photo became
a duo.

The great memory this picture encapsulates:
I was teaching second grade. It was year three
of my great four year career.
{said the housewife}
During that year, when my students and I
shared all the excitement of little Scout's
impending arrival,
one of the precious side effects was a ritual
that Evan and I fell into.

One day I mentioned in class how we liked to go
to Long John Silvers on Whatever Day ~
I can't recall which weekday or what the special was ~
and one of my students piped up that her family
liked going there, too. And I casually said how we could
meet there one day. Lo and behold, she came to class
with a note from mom and, long story short,
we made plans to meet there.

That first week started a sweet time capsule custom.
In the photo
above, which Mrs. Callihan asked us to pose for
and then generously shared a copy with me,
you see Evan, our Jon Cody, yours truly with Scout
cozily growing and awaiting her debut,
my adorable student, Courtney and her younger brother,
whose name is on the tip of my tongue, but
eluding me at the moment. Isn't he a cutie?
{Michael?}


Some things I especially treasure about this photo,
apart from the obvious happenstance of how special
this impromptu chatter turned into a delightful
extension of my 'career'
and, therefore, defines much about my
short foray into teaching,
and, thanks in large part to this spontaneous photo,
a forever happy memory, are:

Jon Cody's groovy flat top, Courtney's awesome bow
and dress, little brother's Churchville Bumblebee sweatshirt,
the tennis shoe on the car roof ~ what is that? ~
my wedding ring on a ball chain, not because my
hands were swollen but because the pregnancy
immediately caused a strange gold allergic reaction
and,
last but not least,
16 years later I am still wearing that chambray shirt
on a regular basis. I have patched it endlessly.
It still makes me feel as happy as I was when I
first borrowed it from Evan's side of the closet.
And this is the only photo that
serves as the memory of when
that came to be.
Thank you, Mrs. Callihan.

Merry Christmas Everyone.
May all your memories come true.

ox
joon