My earliest memories of school are, of course, from kindergarten. At the time, we didn’t have pre-K or head start. You went to school when you were old enough to be in kindergarten. That’s all. Mrs. Burford was our teacher for this foray into the institution of learning. We went a half day starting a little after 8:00 in the morning and ending our day at noon. What an incredible thing school was! I got to go to a room with short tables and chairs that were just the right size, like an alternative Goldilocks story. I got to draw, count, read, listen to stories, and mingle with my new friends. We also were allowed to go to the cafeteria to get milk for snack time. A boy and a girl would be sent to the kitchen with a big plastic bag to retrieve enough cartons of milk for the class. It was a thrilling walk. Being outside of the classroom and walking down not one, but two hallways. Just you and your milk partner. There were a few of us that made the milk trek together and then continued the entire pursuit of education together, from the first day of kindergarten all the way through to senior graduation. There was Travis, Shelly, Shelia, Tara, Makala, James, and me. Whether they know it or not, this small list of people has been the backbone of my life. The foundation of every relationship I have ever had and will ever have. They were there with me through good times, bad times, awkward times, and awkwarder times. (Awkwarder? Not a word, but it should be if you saw me in junior high.) I wouldn’t trade them for the world. Year after year, I said goodbye to old friends that moved away and welcomed new ones like they had been with me in school the whole time. But there is something to be said for knowing someone since we were five years old.
After graduation, some people go off to college together, or get a wild hair to join the Peace Corps together. That didn’t happen with me. I was the only one from my class to go to Phillips University to begin my college career. There were a couple of people from Drummond there, but they were from classes that graduated ahead of me. There was a little familiarity, but it wasn’t the same. From there, I moved on to a school in Canyon, Texas. At West Texas A&M, I didn’t know anyone except my girlfriend. I felt like a lure on a fishing line. I still had ties to home, but I was out mingling with questionable fishes. There were days sitting in advertising class that I would have paid whatever money I had left just to see the familiar face of one of my old classmates. Not to say that moving away from familiarity was totally a bad thing. I met loads of new people who played in bands, worked in high rise office buildings, or worshipped deities other than the one I was familiar with. With all of them including me in their lives, I had experiences I’ll never forget. It was simply that sometimes late at night when the nightclub closed or the café ran me off, I would long for the companionship of someone who knew that Mrs. Hill was the greatest teacher that ever lived or some other trivial childhood fact. Luckily for me, thanks to one of the few perks of Facebook, I have reconnected with some of the people I still hold in the highest regard. To all my classmates who were with me from beginning to end, the thirteen year plan, I say thanks and I love you. Mushy? Yes. But true.
See some of the other things I'm up to at www.JonathanElmore.weebly.com
After graduation, some people go off to college together, or get a wild hair to join the Peace Corps together. That didn’t happen with me. I was the only one from my class to go to Phillips University to begin my college career. There were a couple of people from Drummond there, but they were from classes that graduated ahead of me. There was a little familiarity, but it wasn’t the same. From there, I moved on to a school in Canyon, Texas. At West Texas A&M, I didn’t know anyone except my girlfriend. I felt like a lure on a fishing line. I still had ties to home, but I was out mingling with questionable fishes. There were days sitting in advertising class that I would have paid whatever money I had left just to see the familiar face of one of my old classmates. Not to say that moving away from familiarity was totally a bad thing. I met loads of new people who played in bands, worked in high rise office buildings, or worshipped deities other than the one I was familiar with. With all of them including me in their lives, I had experiences I’ll never forget. It was simply that sometimes late at night when the nightclub closed or the café ran me off, I would long for the companionship of someone who knew that Mrs. Hill was the greatest teacher that ever lived or some other trivial childhood fact. Luckily for me, thanks to one of the few perks of Facebook, I have reconnected with some of the people I still hold in the highest regard. To all my classmates who were with me from beginning to end, the thirteen year plan, I say thanks and I love you. Mushy? Yes. But true.
See some of the other things I'm up to at www.JonathanElmore.weebly.com
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