Sunday, December 30, 2007

a blast from the past

Thursday when we went shopping with my mother, we went to the mall that I grew up frequenting(Fair Oaks). While we there at a shoe store, I noticed a woman that looked very familiar to me...a little older but I knew exactly who she was....my 12th grade Analytic Geometry/Functions math teacher! Feeling like a 17-year old approaching a stern teacher (which she was), I approached her and told her who I was and that she was my math teacher in 1981 at Robinson Secondary. Her eyes popped out of her head...she couldn't believe it was that long ago, that I remembered her name, and that I had recently found my study notes for her final exam in my yearbook of all places. (My oldest friends can attest to my memory with names...( right, Lauren M???)) The first thing she said was "that was a hard class." I told her "yes, it was" and that we had a cast of smart alecs in that class that drove her crazy...One of my most vivid memories of high school happened when she came into class with her button-down blouse wide open. Yup, her beige 18-hour bra was fully exposed for the whole class to see...no one knew what to do...there were lots of chuckles, but because we were all so afraid of her, we let it go for awhile. I finally signaled to her that her shirt was open because I was so embarassed for her...she turned three sheets of red and moved on with her discussion on derivatives. I don't know if she remembered it, but I wasn't about to remind her of it. After chatting for a few minutes, I realized that even after 26 years, seeing Mrs. Kellbaugh still made me as nervous as that spring semester of 1981 when I had to tell her her chest was exposed for all those smart alecs to snicker at. Funny how teachers can do that to you even in middle age....

1 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh boy that must have been tough. Funny too ! 81 was a good year. Holly