Today we had a visit from Dennis, a mutual friend of ours and BB. He and I taught in Northern Maine together back in 1971, the first year of teaching for both of us. We were in a group of 8 new teachers hired in a very small town, Van Buren, Maine. Many of the group were from out of state, or 'down state' as they say in Maine. We became real teachers by winging it, teaching sort of by the seat of our pants I think. Trial by fire. It was a town where most spoke a Medieval French patois, so we all had bilingual aides in our classroms. It was also an economically depressed area with an excellent school system with lots of government funding and grant money. Potato farming was the main employment and long, very, very cold winters settled in soon after the potato harvest vacation in early October. 168 inches of snow fell the first year I taught there, October to May. It was very difficult to find teaching jobs in Massachusetts at that time, so I accepted the job, 11 hours by car away from home. I made lifelong friends and introduced Dennis to my close friends at home. The summer of 1973, three of us flew to Denver, Colorado where one of our friend's parents lived. They lent us their pop-up trailer and we toured Colorado, the Southwest, California, from San Diego to the northern border and back to Denver. From there we drove back to Massachusetts. Gas was 39 cents a gallon and we had the time of our lives. Sadly, our dear friend Bobbie was taken too early, but today, three of the four were together again laughing, admiring our gray hair and happy we all still have our minds and memories.
For the Record,
This day came in Sunny and very pleasant. We sat out on the patio together after I finished my PT session. Three weeks today since my surgery.
I retired from public school teaching after happily spending twenty eight years playing in Kindergarten. Now I fill my days watching cat antics, taking endless...
Teaching brings so many good people together, and it was really fun reading about your first years teaching and your friend Dennis! I like how you were able to make a collage with pictures past and present!
