Friday, June 9, 2017

Making the Grade

A woman of about thirty walked into my classroom this afternoon. "Ms. S!" she cried. "Do you remember me?"

I was on the spot. It was the end of a long day and a longer week, and later I would find out it has been 17 years since she was in my class. Still... I didn't want to give up. There was something familiar in her face, a hint of the girl she had been so long ago in sixth grade. My brain practically creaked and groaned as I reached back.

"Is it something with a J?" I asked.

"Yes!" she clapped.

"Janet!" I said, and added her last name, too. And once I had recognized her, I went about proving I had remembered her all along, asking about her sister, brother, and mother by name.

She was pleased, but no more than I was. I know such a lapse of memory would easily be forgiven, but I still felt like I passed a very important test.

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