You Are Not Forgotten

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This old gal's...

First teaching job was teaching Title I Reading at the Lutheran school in the town she'd live in all her life.

Twenty-three-year-old me was hired by the public school to serve the private school. Got the reading certification that summer—and was paid a salary of 14,000 dollars...

Thus kicking off the beginning of something grand—something grand that would end up lasting 36 years. Can't imagine having been anywhere else, doing anything else. Those people—co-workers, students, parents—became so much more than just a job. They became family.

Got a gift once: a square magnet thing that held a notepad and pen. Students had sold them for a fundraiser. Will never forget the face of that sweet little boy, saying he'd picked this one out himself, saying he knew I'd love the jungle-themed one...

And teacher me did—and still does, so many years later. The notepad long gone. The pen nowhere to be found, but have used that little magnet holder to hold recipe cards ever since. The tried-and-trues. The go-tos. The ''always want to know where that recipe is'' favorites.

Over thirty years. Four different homes. ''It's a Jungle Out There'' has been on that fridge doing his job—and warming an old gal's heart...

Because when she decides to make Casserole and reaches for that magnet box, she doesn't see a recipe holder. She sees those students of hers...every single one of them...

Many of them, moms and dads. Husbands and wives. Business owners. Firemen. Grandparents even.
Special times with special kids who've become amazing adults. And just know, if teacher me was lucky enough to work with you—you are not forgotten...
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And those daughters of mine...agree...