Thursday, April 5, 2012

ELEMENTARY … (A-Z April Blog Challenge)

I was a WALKER.  I’m sure there was no coincidence between my loving the first six years of school when I got to walk to and from every day and the decline of my interest when the day started and ended with the dreaded BUS ride in sixth grade.  Ah, but those days at Huth Road Elementary – they were bliss…
Hands down, my favorite days were the rainy ones, using my oh so cool clear bubble umbrella decorated with a red Stop, a yellow Yield and green Go.  I fell in love with the seasons as a walker, each one carrying its own delight.  Spring was a rolling sea of dandelions that covered lawns and the school grounds, Fall brought the crunching of leaves under my feet and the deep beautiful colors they gave off.   Winter was cold and bare, but allowed me to catch snowflakes on my tongue and pretend to taste different flavors for each one.  Summer was just sad.  The end of the school year and the long two month wait to endure until the next school year began. 
Huth Road Elementary was a magical place.    I loved lying awake during nap time in kindergarten, all quiet in the classroom with the lights turned off.   The library held more books than I’d ever seen and they were all mine for the reading.  On those favorite rainy days, inside the classroom with the fluorescent lights on and the darkness outside, it felt safe and warm and calm.  Teacher’s pet?  Usually.  Receiver of the coveted “H” pin for academic achievement?  Absolutely.  Even made it into the safety patrol in the fifth grade – no small feat for someone as meek and un-authoritative as I was.  But oh, that bright orange sash made up for any of the discomfort I felt at keeping the kids at my door “in line” until it was time to enter and to remind them “not to run” when we got left at the end of the day. Big responsibilities!

Abram's Twin Brige Span Masterpiece!

My husband went to Huth Road as well (although rode the bus poor thing….) And then, a little over 20 years later, our son Abram went there too.  And seeing as how we live one street away from where I grew up, he’s was a walker too.  How’s that for small town life?  He even had one or two of the same teachers. 

I was not prepared for what I felt when I walked back into the school as an adult.  As a parent.  To sit in the auditorium for a concert in the same chairs that my parents sat in to watch me.  To walk the hallways and view the mosaic pattern walls from a totally different height, changing the perspective of the picture.  To leave a note in his desk for him to find the morning after the open house just like my mom did.  Running my fingers over his name, written in big block letters, on an apple or a flower and taped to his locker made me feel like an imposter.   
It all seemed so small.  So far away.  Just slightly off kilter.  And then, slowly, it came back to me.  The safety – the warmth – the sense of calm.  It was as if I were handing Abram over to the arms of a loving friend.  And I was.  After all, this was Huth Road Elementary.  It knew us well.

10 comments:

  1. What a great post and a little taste of small town life for me. I lived in plenty of small towns and some bigger towns. But I never stayed in one place very long--and will never have that connection with my children. I bet it is a wonderful feeling to have that with your son--and to share that connection with your husband too!! Sounds wonderful!!

    Cheers, Jenn

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    1. My husband realized that we were born, raised, married, settled adn raised our family in the same zip code (and it's on a little island in the middle of the Niagara river no less!). The aim is to not retire in the same one, but wel'll see!

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  2. Elementary school is still so vivid, more so as I age. I guess that's how tagging brain works. Since I can't remember even yesterday.

    Don't you hate how all those big questions like about Santa being real always come up in the car? If not there, for as it's the dinner table.

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    1. Tagging brain sounds interesting - I'll have to look it up. And the car story always makes for a good laugh!

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  3. What a wonderful description. I still feel a bit odd when I visit my son's elementary school -- and my feeling when I walk into the office is the same. I'm waiting for the secretaries to notice me and hoping I'm not in trouble for anything -- it probably doesn't help that the secretaries at my son's school have universally sour faces and always bark "Can I help you?" as though I should know better than to interrupt their important chatter. I love his teachers, though.

    Erin

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    1. I had a few ot those office moments myself. Same when I picked him up from the nurses office. :)

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  4. I used to walk to my elementary schools, too (I had three--two in Illinois and one in Rhode Island) and I used the time to make up stories! I even made up a whole teenage "novel" during my walks to school. My junior high happened to be at the beginning of our street, and I took the bus to high school, so those quarter-mile walks ended, but they were enjoyable while they lasted.

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    1. Ah Elaine, I'd love to read that "novel" now! :)

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  5. Wonderful circle of life in a small town. :)
    Kate ~ Following & Visiting A to Z: http://solidhappiness.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thanks Kate - enjoying your pics and quotes on Solid Happiness and joined you on facebook!

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