Bittersweet

I apologize for all the blog posts. I know I'm overwhelming some of you. But I had to write about our morning visit to my old elementary school. It is Alumni Weekend here in Orrville, Ohio as well as my ten year reunion. Lots of festivities are happening here in this small, small town (population about 8,500) so I am seeing a lot of people I know. Today they opened up the elementary school I attended for a final tour (K-6). It will be torn down soon. Torn down. My sweet, sweet memories of that school will never be relived by any other human.

This was my first grade classroom:


Mrs. Conway was my teacher, and she was like a dream. She had long blonde hair way down her back. She was young and cheerful. I honestly don't think she did anything really super special, but she obviously loved us. She told us jokes and taught us tricks. She let us braid her hair in tiny little braids.

Here's the little sink in the classroom. Can you imagine a little Amanda washing her hands here?

Here is the reading table we used to sit at for reading groups, braiding and talking. Laughing a lot. Reading in our reading textbooks titled "Rockets," "Surprises," and "Footprints." I went back and bought them when they were discontinued and sold for a quarter.
Here is the loudspeaker where, while we were lined up by our little lockers, every single day someone in the office called:

"Mrs. Conway?"
"Ye-es?"
"You may bring your class to lunch now."
"Thank you!"

And we would be on our way, walking in our straight lines with our pink lunch tickets that had been stored in a yellow box marked 1-C (1 for first, C for Conway). I'd always eat with my best friend Staci, and we would play with the other girls in the class at recess. We'd wear skirts every single day and fight over C.J., the cutest boy in our class.

Here's Maryn, sitting on the steps in the cafeteria/gymnasium, where I used to sit before Kindergarten each day. We had to line up on these stairs and wait until 8:40 to go to our classrooms. I had a white backpack my mom's friend Kim made for me with stenciled animals or something like that on it.

At indoor recess, Mrs. Conway let us fill Tupperware tumblers with water and "paint" on the chalkboard. Or the boys would pretend to be dogs and the girls would be cats, and we would scoot around on our knees chasing each other. She also had a great set of blocks in her classroom. She was the best teacher. Because she loved us so much.

Mrs. Conway became Mrs. Jackie Orr a few years after I graduated from elementary school. I went back to teach with her one day my junior year of college, which was such a privilege and honor. Sadly, she passed away at a very young age from cancer just a year or two after I visited her in her classroom.

But her memory lives on, and not because she bought us chocolates or had the very best lesson plans. But because she loved us.