Oscar Hammerstein’s lyric in The King and I has Anna singing “If you become a teacher, by your students you’ll be taught.” I’m sure every true teacher would attest to the truth of this saying, but I have a particular instance in mind as I write this.
Most teachers never cease being teachers even after they officially retire. One of my life choices for about fifteen years after that official date was spending time helping international students at the University of Southern Mississippi perfect their English, though there might have been some question whether my drawl was the best instrument for doing this. Real friendships developed as we practiced conversation.
One day, a student described life for the common people in his home country with a vivid metaphor. “Most Chinese people have little opportunity to eat meat, but we try our best to sip a little soup.” I loved the imagery and his positive attitude and stowed it away to use sometime, somewhere. Recent days have given me this opportunity.
Grandson Benjamin recently celebrated his eighth birthday with a scaled down party. A small group of friends, already in his cluster, were invited to an outside party with a giant blowup water slide. Across the driveway from the rocking chair on my front porch turned out to be the best place for the slide. He began his day as soon as it was installed about 10:45 in the morning, enjoyed time with his brother and friends in the middle, and finished sliding about the time the sun went down with only a brief lunch break.
I found my place in the rocker. Parents who came to drop off or pick up children were duly warned to speak to me from afar with my status in an at-risk coronavirus group. Yet I enjoyed my perspective from 10:45 until about the time the sun went down and was reminded of my student’s metaphor that I wanted to use sometime, somewhere. I might not have been able to have the “meat” of the event, but with the view from my rocker, the “soup” was quite tasty!