Infamy

I looked up when the nurse called my name. We were in the OR Recovery area, and the team was monitoring Heidi after her foot surgery.

"Yes?" I replied.

"You were my sixth-grade English teacher!"

I squinted at the young woman in scrubs, glasses, and a professional updo and tried to imagine her 11-year-old self. "What's your name?" I asked.

"Radia," she told me, walking over from the station. 

"Radia!" I said, "I can't believe it!" I pointed at the picture on her badge where her hair was short and parted on the side and her glasses were off. "That looks more like you in middle school."

She laughed. "Yeah, it does," she agreed.

"What year were you in sixth grade?" I asked.

"2001," she replied. "I was actually in your classroom on 9-11."

"Oh my gosh," I shook my head, "that's right."

"People always ask me where I was that day," she continued, "and I always say Ms. S's 2nd period English class. I'll never forget you."