The dog barked. Startled, I woke from a sound sleep. Olivia, our one doodle, wanted our other doodle SunShine to move. She couldn’t get in our bedroom. I turned and groped for my cell on the nightstand. 3:30 AM. I wondered what happened to Diane. She was in my Junior English class my second of thirty-one years of teaching. She was so sweet. She fell in love with a senior boy at John Marshall High School. Her senior year, she married him and delivered a baby boy. Mark was a pharmaceutical student in Cleveland and wasn’t ready for married life. I left that year to join Berea High School’s staff in a southwest suburb of Cleveland. My mind traveled to another student during that time. Bill Gibbs. The following year he came over to Berea to visit. We shared an interest in jazz. He had a whole setup that he brought in for a demonstration speech. Mature past his 19 years, I loved listening about his plans to start a transport company someday at Cleveland Hopkins Airport. He said he would start small with trucks and eventually build up to planes. I hope he did it. So many names came back to me that I had not thought of for years.
Linda Gregory. The last time I heard from her, she was working in a bank in Delphos, Ohio. I don’t remember what took her there. When you are a young teacher, you grow close to some students. You retain the level of being a teacher, but a unique bond forms that change as you grow older. At least it did for me. Carol Broquet was one of those girls. Carol and I became friends after she graduated. Perhaps it was different with Carol because she never was in a class of mine. We met through a mutual interest in theater. We stayed in touch as she graduated and went to Kent State. She was one of my bridesmaids and later designed and made my daughter’s christening dress. Smiling, I’m glad we recently reconnected, and I learned she is the director for the Singing Angels in Cleveland.
I left teaching for a while – ten years. By the time I returned, I was more the age of most of my students’ mothers. Katy was one of the most talented and organized young women in my Communications class. Trying her luck in New York City after she graduated from Ohio Wesleyan, the cost of living drove her back to Columbus, Ohio. She might have stayed in Communications as she joined Ashland Chemical. Another Katie was helping to raise her siblings as her parents were traveling with their multiple businesses. An amazing girl. She was an honor student, working a job, was busy in student government, and a cheerleader. I envied her stamina and calm demeanor. She married her high school sweetheart after she graduated college. I’ll bet she is running a nonprofit or has a small business of her own by now. Then there was Colin who drove me crazy. He had a disorder, according to his mom, that didn’t allow him to be silent for long. I remembered being impressed when he opened up to me about his intention was to start a toasted cheese sandwich restaurant with his granddad.
Some students I hear from or know where life has taken them. Bryn is an Emmy-winning reporter in Dayton. Kyle is successful in community service and politics and often quoted in Columbus news. Riley, my favorite according to her, spent time in the Midwest and is now working for a veterinarian in Upper Arlington.
Hearing the chiming of the downstairs clock, telling me it was now 5 A.M., I thought if I keep this train of thought going, I wouldn’t get any more sleep. I do the math of an average of 100 students a year over thirty-one years that would make … many more nights of no sleep.