Only me...

Saturday was the night of Doodle's parent's 40th Anniversary party. It was great to be around so many happy people and see so many longstanding couples. All of the them had been friends for years, went to school together, and were all pretty far into their 60's. One of the girls had been friends with Doodle's mom since they were 2 months old. And one of the guys at the party had been the best man at their wedding 40 years ago. Doodle's dad joked that he had also returned the favor-all three times. But as is my luck, even though I was supposed to know no one at this party, I wouldn't get off so easily.

I had been helping Doodle and his sister all morning prepare for the party. Cleaning up a little, getting the food all out and making sure everything was set up just so. The party was supposed to start around 4pm and sure enough, 4 hits and people slowly start coming in. There is probably about 6 guests at this time. I am standing next to the back door by Doodle's sister and this couple walks in.

Uh-oh. Here it is. The moment I was waiting to happen. I knew someone. I look at Doodle's sister and say, "Holy Crap. I think that it my 6th grade teacher.". This was definitely not the environment I would expect to see an old teacher. Only 20 people were invited! The sister looks at me and says, "is that a good thing?". I tell her at the time, I hated him. But it was one of those hate because he actually made you work things. She pushes me towards the other side of the room and tells me to go ask him.

I stand next to Doodle at the window, offer to get the teacher a drink, he asks for a beer. I go get one and bring it back to him. I tell Doodle I am pretty sure that is my 6th grade teacher. Being as he has never been a shy one, he also tells me to ask.

I give the teacher his beer and ask, "Did you teach at Southern Heights?". He looks at me strangely and says yes. I ask if his last name is Cox, he also says yes. I tell him you were my 6th grade teacher. The room goes silent, then everyone starts laughing hysterically. He takes his beer and says "great, now since I have an old student here, I guess I can't drink too much and dance on the tables right?". I tell him to feel free to dance all he wants-I won't tell anyone. Then he asks the dreaded question-was it a good thing that I was the teacher? I tell him honestly, at the time no. I hated that class because I actually had to work. And because he gave me my first "C". I didn't DO C's. I was an A-B student and he gave me a C. Then I tell him once I got into High School, I realized how much that class taught me. I never had any issues with English and even took extra college classes at the same time. And when we studied the midieval times, I didn't have to work too hard because I already knew the information. He says oh, that's good and goes on to enjoy the party. I go call my mother.

The rest of the evening continues without incident. No other teacher sightings. Or anyone else I knew for that matter. And I got a completely different image of this teacher to take with me. Over the last couple of years, when those radio contests and such come up saying to nominate the best teacher, this one and one other were the only ones I could ever remember that had an impact in my life. I always thought he was extremely scary. Now I knew he really wasn't. He really did just want what was best for all of his students. And he wasn't just a teacher-he was a husband. He was married to another school teacher. They had been married for over 27 years. She was the friend of Doodle's mom at 2 months old. They were still affectionate with each other. He still rubbed her back as they were speaking, just a subconscious gesture. And he had a sense of humor. But he still looked just like Mr. Burns off the Simpsons.