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My wife,
Jean, and I have known one another for almost seven decades. We were 4th
grade classmates, and Mrs. Waters was our teacher. I remember this precious lady as one of my most favorite teachers. She was a fine Christian woman, an
excellent role model, and dearly loved her students. We will return to this particular topic shortly.
I’ll always
remember our lunchroom and library. I include these facilities in the same
sentence since they were adjacent to one another, and strangely enough for
Florida, they were situated below ground level. We walked down one flight of
stairs, and we found ourselves in a common hallway with the lunchroom on the
front left, and the library on the back right.
I think I looked forward to these daily excursions “into the abyss.”
There was something rather mysterious about stepping out of the daylight into what
I may have fancied as another realm.
It may have been in the 2nd or 3rd grade that I became interested in a particular book which I discovered in the library. This far along I cannot tell you why, but I read the entire volume in the confines of that library, (though I can’t imagine such a book being on the reserved list since it was fictional in nature, and it involved an equally fictional alien). During my entire elementary education, it is the only book I remember, (though sadly, I don’t recall its title). At the time, however, I was absolutely fascinated with that little creature, and could hardly wait to resume my reading the next school day.
Mrs. Sampson
was my first, as well as my second grade teacher, and she suggested our second
grade class stage a school play. I was convinced that I was her favorite
student, (though I might have thought differently at the conclusion of the
production). I was chosen to assume the role of the Fire Wizard; one
manifestation of that old faker, “The Wizard of Oz.”
It is one
of the most poignant memories of all my elementary years. My entire face was covered in heavy red rouge or lipstick. And
since the whole of my monologue consisted of two lines, I was able to give
significant attention to the dramatic elements of the production. (Reader, you
should be smiling about now). After all, without exception, my classmates and I
were convinced we were dealing with a ground breaking interpretation of that
famous movie by the same name.
As I walked
onto the stage, I was greeted with laughter. The audience response set me back
a little, and I could only wonder if I’d missed the joke. But undeterred, I
quoted my lines with all the professionalism and seriousness of Clark Gable,
(or Don Knotts).
“I am Oz, the great and the terrible. Who are you , and why do you seek me?”
And then, my
short-lived elementary school acting career was over. God giveth and God taketh
away. ‘Tis a pitty. I was good. If, indeed, I am ever called upon for an
encore, I will be ready, (since I still remember those poignant and compelling
lines).
I was a
little rascal, and Mrs. Waters never knew what was coming next. I sat behind a
little girl named “Tiffany,” and she happened to have the most beautiful blond
pigtails. In that day and time, even as elementary students, we used a type of
ink pen which featured a small lever which allowed us to draw ink into the
cylinder. Each desk was equipped with an
inkwell; just the perfect size for a custom size bottle of blue ink. You guessed
it. At least once, and perhaps several times, I unscrewed the lid of my ink
bottle, and… dipped Tiffany’s pigtails into it. It was only later that she became aware of her
multi-colored braids; (and I can tell you, she wasn’t impressed.)
by Bill McDonald, PhD
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