Driving Miss Brigid
September 29, 2000
7:27 a.m.
Lisa (the copy editor/wife) went to Chicago this week to take a class. This means that Brigid an I are on our own for a couple days. It also means that I have to make sure we get to school on time (usually Lisa's job) and I have to pick Brigid up (also, a Lisa role). So yesterday I stepped into school to find Brigid. It was something after five o'clock. School gets out at 3:15, but they have a program for after school care. I was expecting Brigid to be in the math room doing her homework. That's where she was the day before, and I assumed she would follow the same process. The computer teacher was still there, I saw, working on something. and the culture/social sciences teacher was sitting in the hallway pouring over a book. The reading teacher was in the gym, playing tennis with a young boy, probably a fourth grader. He was sweating, and kept up a running commentary on the action. I found the math room. No Brigid. Hmmm ... maybe she's outside playing. I hoped she had her homework done as I stepped outside to look for her. It was a glorious day in Columbus, Indiana yesterday, by the way. Blue blue sky. Maybe seventy degrees. Very light wind. Perfect for playing outside. One of the math teachers, and a couple of the preschool teachers were out there. Kids were playing tag. The math teacher was talking to a parent, and they were both watching the kids as they ran and screamed and slid down the huge slide and played basketball. No Brigid. Now I'm actually a little concerned. It's a parent's prerogative to fear the worst, no matter what the environment. I walked back into the building, looking into one room after the other. Still no Brigid. I returned down the hallway, again looking in each room. Finally I came to the science room. I hadn't looked here because it was dark. But there she was, silhouetted against the sunlit background with the science teacher. They were talking. Brigid saw me and the two of them came out. I said hi to the teacher, then we left. Brigid was hugging a big green book to her chest. "I'll tell you about it when we're in the car," she said. She got her bags and her lunch box. We got in the car. "So, tell me about the book," I said. "We're studying cells in science." "Yes." "Ms. Calfe noticed that I wasn't having fun with them, and so she talked to me and told me that we needed to learn about cells because everyone was expected to know about them in the next grade." "I'm sure that's true." "But she also said she wanted me to have fun, so she said I could take this book home and pick out things that were interesting to me, and that she and I would do them together." "That sounds really cool," I said. "It is." And the rest of the way back home, Brigid scanned the pages. I smiled, watching her from the corner of my eye and thinking about what I had seen in the past ten minutes. It does take a village, you know? Trite as it sounds. And we can all be part of that village if only we want to.   Have a great day.  Next thing you know he'll be singing "This Land is Your Land" Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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halfway through draft #2...how did this get to be 12,000 words? |
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