Saturday, Jun. 07, 2003
Little Havana Happy Hour, posted at 9:27 a.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Yesterday, the weather was beautiful, and I took my 1st period outside to write their descriptive essays. We spread out around the bleachers and the football field, trying to gain new perspectives on a building that we had spent the last eight months squirrelled away in, and it produced some great writing from my 9th graders: "I sit here on a warm June warming, the freshly cut grass smell hitchhiking on the breeze into my nostrils, watching the trees stand guard over the ramshackle football field." I mean, that's a freaking 9th grader. Gotta love it.Last night was payday, and while I'm desperately trying to hold on to my fundage to save up for my Italy trip, I still wanted to head out. The week was a tough one until Thursday, when I realized that sleep deprivation was a primary contributor to my stress level and I should just go to bed earlier. But this didn't decrease my hopes to head out on Friday night, and the most beautiful weather of the season so far pushed us out onto the waterside deck at the Little Havana. The afternoon was most excellent, complete with $2 pints of Resurrection (imported from Brewer's Art, a few miles away), a Cuban drink called a mojito, and evocative conversations with friends.
As often happens when we both drink a bit, I found myself in a singular conversation with Boston Betty. She's leaving after this year from the school, disappointed with public school's emphasis on testing and data collection. She's been hired at an all-boys private school in the city, which sounds in many ways like a utopian school (all boys, as teenage boys are much easier to teach than teenage girls; maximum 15 kids in the classes; tons of resources), and I'll miss her. She's my best friend at school, someone to share Berger Cookies with, someone to gossip with, someone to share joys of teaching with. I'll really miss her.
We talked last night for a long time. She's 41, married, and her wonderful husband sat to my right. She said things to me that are almost embarassing to write because they are so nice, but I want to try to capture them here so if I need to, I can go back and look later.
After I told her I would miss her, she told me that she'll miss me too, that she feels like true friends are very rare in life, and that she found one in me. She envies my optimism, that if he were earlier on in her career she would be right alongside me in leading the department, that she feels like we both got into teaching for the same reason. She tells me I'm the future of the department.
She then told me how worried she was about me in the last few weeks as I was rejected by the Michigan girl and walked around dejectedly. She asked me how I was, and I explained that things were looking up, that she sent me this e-mail that made me think of her differently than I ever had before. I told her I felt like I was part of her healing process, and that I guess it's nice that she feels healed now. She looked at me with her clear blue eyes and said, "Epiphany, you are a healer. 1 in 50 people in this world can truly heal others. I know it really hurts right now, and that you loved her, but you're a healer. And when you do find a woman that appreciates who you are, she'll be amazed and so very lucky."
It was nice to hear, and I told her she was going to make me cry. We then talked about Italy, about how badly our school is treating a few of its teachers, and then they left. I put him some well-earned flirting with Millie, the cute mixed-race girl who hangs out with us sometimes. I was actually pretty proud of myself, putting my arm around her and getting oh so close to her. I like her. I think she's dating someone, though; I've got to figure that out.
Overall, it was a great evening. Today's agenda: graduation for seniors at my high school and a trip down to DC to hang out with Eleanor.