You CAN go home again

Last night I blew out of work early to go down to my old stomping grounds, Shakamak High School.

Micajah Green, my teenage friend and daughter of my cousin Howard and his wife Cheryl, invited me to speak at the induction ceremony of the newest members of National Honor Society.

In addition to being a knockout with a crazy temper, Micajah is president on NHS, editor (2nd year running) of the school yearbook, member of the local volunteer fire department and a former Miss Flame. (I think she can earn her college tuition if she sold a calendar of just that photo. It's from her senior picture montage. I'm not going to share my senior picture ever again.)

I was nervous, I have to admit. It had been a long time since I'd been home to see anyone other than my siblings, and the last time I did anything close to official at the school was when I was still a student there. But I like Micajah, and it turns out my nephew Daniel was one of the inductees.

So I get down there, practicing what I could say along the way. Under the best circumstances I'm a bad driver. It's a good thing traffic was light on I-70... I stopped off at my sister Nancy's (mother of said scholar, Daniel) and had some soup. It was really good, and the fact that I was worried it wouldn't stay down wasno reflection at all on the chef.

I get to the school and not much had changed. The chairs in the cafeteria were different than when the Infamous Hot Dog Incident had occurred. But the principal's office was still in the same place. (Oh, yes: I knew it well.)

I saw a lot of people I remembered from school. They were mostly my age and younger. Now in Jasonville, there's not that much to do, but you generally aren't so desperate to spend your Monday night at the NHS induction ceremony. We do have TV, you know.

No, these people I'd grown up with (and more than a few who came after me) were there because their children were being inducted or were already in NHS. Yeah. Their kids are getting ready to graduate and mine is 7. I felt like one of those 60-year-old women who have babies.

I saw Lori Bitz Smith, too. She graduated with one of my sisters. Back when Jeff and I were dating we were in Jasonville for homecoming and I introduced her to Jeff. She looked him up and down and wondered aloud "How did YOU get HIM?"

I saw my friend Cheri Yeryar's parents, who I've always loved. And Barbara Miller, a lovely woman who was sort of our neighbor and who told me she missed my Mom and Dad, too. The Dormans who now own the local newspaper were there, too. The were there for their grandson. Yep, I used to hang out with their daughter Beth, the kid's mom.

I saw Mr. Monday, the legendary SHS science teacher who had seen my older siblings through biology and chemistry and who had gotten mad at me when I decided to work on the school newspaper instead of taking Chem II. I'd taken Bio I and II with him, but the newspaper was calling my name. He thought I was taking the easy way out.

While I give him props for pushing me to acheive in school and life (and I am grateful for that) he was wrong when he thought I'd chosen poorly.

Clearly I do not belong near chemicals. (How he missed it I don't know) It wasn't that long ago that I inadvertently mixed up something akin to mustard gas while cleaning the toilet with my own combination of ammonia, bleach and vinegar. Thinking I was clever, I'd poured the concoction into the bowl, then closed the lid to let it simmer.

I remember opening the lid to check on things. When I came to, the air was hazy and Jeff was yelling at me. (OK. That's a slight exaggeration. I didn't pass out, but my eyes watered and man did Jeff yell at me...)

As for biology, I'll just remind you of the time I was driving my fun little, red two-seater convertible to my folks home for a summer family dinner when I came across two turtles crossing the road. I stopped and put them in the car thinking the kids would like to play with them.

They were snapping turtles. And none to happy to be in my car.

They tried to escape and got under my feet while I was trying to drive. Snapping turtles got their name because they snap at you and bite when they can. (Maybe they should all be named Stitches, Amer.) I don't remember how I made it home that time.

I'm not sure the world of journalism needed me, but I needed it. Can you imagine what might have happened to the world with me in a science role? Ugh.

But back to the NHS speech. Part of why Micajah asked me to speak was because I was a former NHS member myself. (I'm not sure how, either. Maybe it was easier to get into back then...) Anyway, I rattled on for a while and didn't get dragged off the stage with a hook, so I guess I wasn't the worst speaker ever.

Once it was over, it was fun to see everyone. Howard and my sister Donna got there after I'd spoken, which is great. I love Howard. But he's tall and loud and I'm fairly certain I would have forgotten how to speak at all. It was much better to hang out after...