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Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Memories of school

Thinking about old times this morning and that's probably because a classmate from the 1960's called me last night. Hilda, her name is Hilda. Actually, there were three Hilda's in my graduating class. That's kind of unusual as we were a class of only thirty five...I'm thinking that's correct. After we had talked and then said our goodbyes, I remembered that somewhere in an old box was a really good picture of Hilda. Hey, she must have liked me to have given me a picture.



It was an honor to have Hilda call me and so good to talk with her again. You see, my last three grades in school, I felt like a nobody and very inferior. Good grief! and do I not still deal with those same feelings on a daily basis!

Third grade through ninth grade, my family lived in the booming little town of Robbins, where my heart remains even today. Shelby, Jackie, and I went to school there. However, in 1956 Daddy bought the farm. I completed ninth grade in Robbins then had to change schools and ride the school bus to West End School every day. It was not changing schools that damaged my poor brain as much as it was our family life so totally changing and falling apart. The 50's were happy times...the 60's brought sadness. Teenage years are hard enough, but throw in watching your loving, caring, perfect parent's marriage falling apart. Oh wow!

Hilda called to tell me about our upcoming class reunion set for June 4th. Hopefully I can talk Poppy into going with me.  We did go to the first class reunion held in 2008.



Here we are and that's me in the pink, trying to hide, (the story of my life), behind Mrs. Thompson, our English teacher, on the far left. 

Dear friends, here you go! An example of my high school days, or daze!  In English class one day, Mrs. Thompson called me to the front to read, or recite, a poem. Panic swept over my entire body. I somehow walked that long mile to the front, turned around, and faced the class. With my heart in my throat I spoke maybe two words of that poem, looked up and saw two cute boys sitting in the back of the class with their heads together, whispering. In the class picture, see the one with a yellow shirt and the guy beside him with a touch of blue shirt showing? Those guys. It was those two! Probably neither one of those boys even knew that I was standing up there like an idiot, but my thinking then was that they were whispering about me. Not another word did I speak, not one! Looking down at the floor, I walked that long mile right back to my desk and sat down. The heck with that poem! The heck with school! The sad part is that I love poetry and had memorized that poem...but felt only anguish and pain standing there in front of the class. And by the way, the guy in the yellow shirt had been my boy friend. :)



That's me and my brother Jackie in our front yard at our happy home in Robbins. We were ready for school and waiting for Daddy to drive us. I was probably in seventh grade there.

Good gosh! I've simply got to get busy. Poppy gets off work at 12:00 today.

Thank you if you have somehow managed to stick around this long. :)

Love,
Henny 


46 comments:

  1. Dear Henny,
    What an insightful post this morning, my friend. My growing up years were similar in that I was very shy in school because we moved so many times, 12 schools from kindergarten to 12th grade. And my folks divorced when I was 16, so very hard on us, right? However, you have become part of my life, and the world you live in, the teeny tiny farm and your family and animals, all bring such warmth and feeling to your readers. Imagine what your teachers would think if they knew about your life today and your delightful blog! I wonder what that poem was?? Big hugs to you!

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    1. Thank you Pam. You did change schools a lot! That must have been hard. And I was about 16 when my parents really started having problems. You have written the sweetest comment. Thank you so much!

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  2. Hard when your parents separate, my husbands parents did and he has suffered because of it with a feeling of isolation at times. You are blessed that you have a wonderful family and a great life on your teeny weeny farm. Take care.

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    1. Thank you! I can understand. It hurts when your parents separate.

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  3. Dear Henny! What a wonderful post! I felt the same way all through school. My family went through 2 divorces before I was out of school and I always had problems all through school and sometimes, even today. Maybe if I had known that other families weren't so perfect, I would have felt a whole lot better. I hope you know what a beautiful, insightful, and all round smart lady you really are! You brighten my day every time I read your sweet writings and I wish you a happy day. You are really tugging at my heart today, lady! Love, Terry

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    1. Thank you Terry. You are so sweet! Especially when you're young, it's easy to think everybody else has perfect families and lives. I felt like mine was perfect until the problems started.

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  4. I was shy when I was in school, so any time I had to speak in front of the class, I was terrified. I can still remember that awful feeling.

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    1. Thank you! Wasn't that the most awful feeling! I still hope I never ever have to stand in front of people again. :)

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  5. Beautifully written. You write with such warmth :) God Bless x

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  6. It's a wonder any of us survived school at all! You really brought me back to those self-conscious times.

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    1. That's the truth Marty. I just had no idea so many others felt like I did. Thank you!

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  7. How nice to take a trip down memory lane with your hold schoolmate! You haven't changed a bit since 2008 - great photos!!

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  8. I got you beat! LOL There were 37 in my graduating class!! Nancy

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    1. Your graduating class was about like mine!Thank you Nancy!

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  9. "Hilda" is a Nordic-German name, was your school in an area with German immigrants, although I'm thinking we had several girls named Hilda in our small school and that was in England ...lol.
    School days are always happy memories for me, my grandma owned the local bakery, so I was quite popular especially with the lads, who were always getting fed :)
    I hope you get to go to your reunion and have a good time !
    Hugs,
    ~Jo

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    1. Ooh, and I too was the product of a divorced mum and dad, except I lived with my dad afterwards. I used to envy all the kids who went home after school to their mums, who met them at the garden gate, always wearing their aprons. Funny how you remember things that 'made you'.
      You must have received plenty of love from your parents before the split, because they simply made a wonderful, caring and special lady.
      Hugs,
      ~Jo

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    2. Oh just the thought of attending a small school in England! And the bakery! I really don't know about there being German immigrants, but I don't think there were. Jo, how sweet to think about mums wearing aprons and waiting at the garden gate. You must have had a wonderful dad too. I could sit all day and read what you write. Thank you for such a sweet comment.

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  10. School caN BE DEVASTATING FOR SOME KIDS. It's bad enough just to be a teenager. There were eight in my high school class.

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    1. I guess so, Red. It certainly was for me. Only eight! And, I thought my class was small! Thank you.

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  11. We moved when I was 15 and had to do my last 2 years of high school at t new school. It was scary! I had around 400 students in my graduating class. The best part of the move? I met my future husbands.

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    1. Janet! 400 students! I for sure would NEVER have made it! :) Thank you!

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  12. Seems we all have school stories to tell. I was quite happy at school; it was home that was not a pleasant place at all. I was glad to leave home and like you I am STILL trying to overcome some of the effects of that homelife. Isn't it wonderful that we can find virtual friends that like us, find us interesting ( well, they keep coming back and reading us, right?)and provide a bright spot to our days. I know you sure do that for me with every one of your posts and also the comments you leave on mine. Okay. Now I better be close.Sending you a big hug!!

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    1. Seems we all do have, and seems so many of us went through some of the same problems. Yes, I LOVE all the friends I've met through blogging. The absolute nicest, sweetest, most caring people I have ever called friends. Thank you, and a big hug right back!

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  13. Oh my and you were such a cute little thing. I would have thought you were the life of the party. How does that quotation go? Comparison is the thief of joy? It's so true. So often we compare ourselves to other people and their situations without knowing the true situation that they are living with. As a result we end up feeling less than good but have measured ourselves against an unrealistic picture.

    School for me was not traumatic at all----I liked to study and had a small group of good friends. But I was (and still am) very shy and never know what to say and can't jump into a conversation with others easily (it's like coming in backdoors when jumping rope----timing is all!) So my social life was pretty much nil----no dating, no parties etc. etc.

    It's such a shame that we can't just be ourselves and not worry about what everyone else is thinking about us when generally they aren't thinking about us at all but their thoughts are concentrated on themselves.

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    1. Thank you Vic. I've never heard that quotation before, but it sure is true! I can picture you in school, getting along good with others, well liked, and making good grades. But I cannot imagine you not dating or going to parties. Oh gosh! If only I could just be myself and stop worrying about what people think! I've gotten better at that over the years.

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  14. It's surprising to me how many women bloggers I know who were shy and remain introverted. I am too. And yes, there were unhappy family issues too. But I finally came into my own about age 40. I had always heard the "Life begins at 40." For me it did. I am now a force to be reckoned with - if I choose to be.
    I do hope you go to that reunion.

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    1. A force to be reckoned with! I like that! That's what I need to work on. Like you, super nice, but a force to be reckoned with, if need be. Thank you Linda. I love getting a comment from you!

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  15. Awwwww. Mama!!! I love you so much! I am glad you are my mama! You are beautiful!
    xo
    Lynn

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    1. Thank you Lynn! I love you so much!! And I'm glad you are my gir! :) Wonder if I should explain why we say "gir"? When Lynn was little, she would say, "mama, am I your gir:?

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  16. I hope you go to your reunion if you want to. I have nothing in common with those I went to High School with so I probably won't go to mine. They are a stuck up snooty bunch for the most part.
    I enjoyed seeing your photos and you should give those guys the what for when you see them again:)

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    1. Hey there! I like and appreciate your attitude about these things! Can you imagine! Those guys would not have any idea what I was talking about, and would probably say they never saw me stand in front of the class. :)

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  17. I remember being terrified to speak in front of the class, too, Henny. I wasn't a shy person but that was a real stresser for me. It's nice looking back on old photos. I'm glad you were once again able to link up with an old friend.

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    1. Hey Deb. Thank you. Standing in front of the class was probably hard for us all. I think I came into this world shy and bashful!

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  18. Thank you for sharing your high school memories! My class was small too but not quite as small as yours. Our 50th is coming up next year. I don't know of anything is planned. I've never gotten to any of my high school reunions but I did connect with a high school classmate a few months back when she came down to Florida. She says that interest in more high school reunions is poor so I don't know what will happen. My teen years at home were not happy ones either so I certainly feel for you. Have a blessed day.

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    1. Hey Melanie! Thank you! It's easy to see that a lot of us went through sad times growing up. Life can be hard! Hope you are having a good day too!

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  19. Life can be so hard on children. My childhood was filled with good times and sad and terrifying times. One year I changed schools 5 times . . . and 2 or 3 times was an average. Daddy did construction work and we followed the good weather returning to our home in Indiana in the spring each year. So from fall to spring during the months of school were very hard. I was shy and always felt like an outsider looking in, but that was then, not now. Thanks to my sweet husband, who is also my very best friend and my better understanding of how very much I am loved my our savior and heavenly father . . . I am not an outsider anymore, but a confident daughter of a king. Life is good :)
    Here's wishing you a lovely weekend and if you go to that school reunion . . . you get up there and have that beautiful face of yours fully in the photo. You are a very special woman, with much talent and much love. It is so visible in your posts that you have a heart of gold and whether you believe it or not, it shows.
    God bless you my friend.
    Connie :)

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    1. Connnie, thank you! What a sweet sweet comment. I appreciate what you said so much. You have made me cry. Thank you.

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  20. My class has never even had any reunions!! Nobody could be bothered to organize it.
    I don't have many happy memories from school. I was one of the kids that every one picked on.

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    1. Hey Happyone. I'm sorry to hear that. To have been picked on, you have sure moved on and now make others happy. There used to be three kids who walked home the same way I walked and I was scared to death of them. I was afraid to go to the bathroom at school because if they came in, they would lock me in the stall.

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    2. Some kids can sure be cruel!! I would have come to your rescue. : )

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  21. I love it when you share your memories with us here, my friend! Your friend Hilda looks like she would have been a lot of fun.

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  22. Henny, you are so pretty, why are you trying to hide?!! I think you were brave to go to a high school reunion. I had a few close friends in high school and did well academically, but I haven't gone back to a single reunion because I was invisible to most of my classmates back then and why would they want to see me now, or me them.

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  23. I love that picture of you and daddy! Thanks for sharing. Love you

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  24. Henny, honestly we all have terrible memories of school. Seems everything is twice as bad in our memories as it actually was I think. Hope you go to the reunion and enjoy it. Most people are thinking only about themselves during those years and probably don't even remember the incident.

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