~we were~

Yesterday at school, one of the kids was checking out a book from the history section of the library.  I'm not exactly sure what it was about, but on the front was a photograph of the Hindenburg disaster of 1937.  The old black and white picture showed that massive air ship bursting into flames.  The young person who was looking at it asked me the most remarkable question.

"Oh man!  Mrs. Renfro did you know about this? Were you alive back then?"

 My answer was brief and to the point.

"No.  That was about 20 years before my time."

I guess it could have been worse.  It might have been a book about the Civil War.  You know?
Art Linkletter was right.  Kids say the darnedest things.

At age 60, I have definitely been around for a couple of years.  38 years of teaching, nearly all of them back in my home state of Kansas, have provided me with the opportunity to meet and teach hundreds of children over time.  I've heard children say the dearest of things to me with many of them referring to something that might have been a bit on the sensitive side at first.  I've been asked about the wrinkles on my face and how old I am.  I never avoid those questions, rather I will always tell someone my age if they can solve the math problem to find out.  It's a "win, win" situation.  They find out how old their teacher is and I get them to practice math in order to do so.  At first it kind of bothered me. Yet as the days went on, I always began to accept those innocent inquiries in the spirit in which they were given.

Once back in Kansas, there was a little girl who always liked to come up and rub my arms when I was reading to the class.  It went on for a while before I finally became too curious and asked her why she always did that.  She replied back to me.

"Teacher, I just love the way your grandma skin feels."

Well, ok then.

Back in the mountains of Colorado, there was the sweetest little first grade boy who stole my heart.  He would always be insistent that if I needed help carrying something, I would make sure to ask him to help me.  He knew about "old lefty" and didn't want me to ever get hurt again.  Every day before he went home, that young man would come up to me and give me the biggest hug.  That little guy would always leave with the same promise~He would return the next day.   I can still hear his little voice as he sped out of the doorway.

"I'm always gonna help you Mrs. Renfro because you are getting older now.  I love you!"

And I loved him too.

Being a teacher over the past nearly 4 decades has afforded me the opportunity to become a part of the lives of many children.  Teaching has not made me a wealthy woman, well at least in terms of dollars and cents.  But it has provided me with riches that go far beyond what the deposit in my bank account looks like and you know what?  

I believe I can live with that.

May 21, 2013
Back home in Hutchinson, Kansas at Lincoln Elementary.  Mike and I got married on the last day of school in the gymnasium of the school.  It was the last day for me to be a teacher there and we wanted all the kids to be a part of the wedding.  This little fellow was showing me he had lost a tooth and I was telling all of them to keep reading over the summer :)

Not everyone is lucky enough to get married under a basketball goal with about 200 of the greatest kids ever present in the audience.  We were!

One of the first little kids that I taught grew up to be a pretty good real estate salesman.  I love that little boy!