Our Miss Brown
By Mona Lease

Hi, all!! Johnny awoke and looked out of the window. Yup - it was cold. And it looked like snow. He'd better hurry. He had to carry coal into the school and start a fire. It was his turn. He'd have to clean out the stove first. You could just know that Bobby did not do it. Bobby took every chance he could to make him feel stupid. It wouldn't be so bad if he did not already feel stupid. He tried - he really did. He grabbed the lard sandwich off of the table and walked out the door.

Pulling his hat down farther over his ears; he ate and thought as he walked the quarter mile to school. Why did the school lessons not stay in his head? He listened to Miss Brown - he could say all the words and numbers...they just did not "click." He just did not connect anything with English or writing a "correct sentence." Really - how would it possibly matter how you said anything as long people understood you? What made the difference where any of the stupid marks went that were supposed to tell you how to read a sentence? How many ways were there to read? He read some words - "Good." Now, see this mark? That means you accent this part of the sentence. Now you read it like this. Come on - Did anyone really care about this stuff? How did it "change your life?" He still had to walk to school and carry in the coal. He brought himself back to the road and looked at the school. Miss Brown was already there. Great - Now it looks like I can't even start a fire early.

Miss Brown looked out the window and saw Johnny. She shook her head. "What to do?", she wondered. Johnny would never learn the lessons. She knew he tried. She was a teacher. She dedicated her life to it. "Was there more to "teaching" than just the lessons?" Johnny would become a man - a breadwinner. She could see the change in him already - the way he squared his shoulders when he saw Bobby - or around the girls - the awkward shyness. Miss Brown decided the best thing to do would be to teach Johnny to write his name and math - at least to add and subtract. He would be able to sign a paycheck and he would have a fair shot at not being cheated...out of money anyway. The door opened and in walked Johnny carrying a bucket of coal. "I'm sorry there's no fire, Miss Brown." "It's ok, Johnny. It's all going to be ok."

The above is a true story - from Darke County. From the two room school house - Johnny ended up marrying a woman with a handicapped daughter. Johnny signed many paychecks...and loved the daughter like his own. Many students reported that after the school years - "Had it not been for Miss Brown I would not be where I am today." Miss Brown was strict - she was fair - she drew "lines in the sand" regarding behavior at school and with others. It all depended upon which side of the line you were.

Remember the kiddies and our service people. Take good care of the furry and feathered ones out there. Be safe and healthy. See ya next time. Ever Toodles!! MONA