A most unusual surprise took place yesterday at the Senior Book Group. Fourteen of us settled around the table ready to begin our book discussion. I had to scoot a half dozen poetry people out of our room...they always seem to forget it's our space every third Thursday of the month, and this is something I have to do almost every month! So when a tall, nice-looking young man came in the room, I quickly let him know the poetry group was meeting down the hall. But the young man, carrying a thick scrapbook under his arm, walked right on in and stood looking over our group. He then said, while looking directly at me, that he was looking for "LOIS." The book group quickly responded, everyone pointing at me. He went on to say that Lois was his second grade teacher and he had pictures to prove it.
While I have recognized a number of my former second graders after they became adults, this person was lost to me. I could not relate the young Curtis Briggs to this young man. He passed the photo around, showed me his scrapbook that his mother had kept so carefully. He proudly showed me a bit of his writing and several of his Greek Myth pictures. The ladies in the room expressed pleasure at learning a little more about me. After some discussion about our second grade, he was gone...and I sat, quite dumbfounded.
Thinking back on the experience today, I'm delighted but more puzzled than ever. How did he find me, and why? Time may tell. He left me his card, and I gave him my phone number. He was my student in 1972-1973. Just imagine!
