childhood on the grid
2005.10.19 23.41
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(front row left to right)
Hortensia (Tensia) ?,
Kevin Miller or Keeble?,
?,
Michael King,
Lisa Newton,
Chris Carter,
?.
(second row)
Mark Arcos,
Sharon Crowe,
Perry Paleramo,
Mark Shields (me!),
Irene ?,
?,
Colleen Russo.
(third row)
Jonelle ?,
Alexis ?,
Laura ?,
Charlene Fouke,
Carol Fariss,
Colleen Harrell,
Andrew Mushler.
(back row)
Benjamin ''Ben'' Savage,
?,
Jeffrey ''Jeff'' Maxwell,
Mark Hayden,
Wendell ?,
?,
John Greenslate.
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Above is a photo of my favorite elementary school class from second grade.
I was quite surprised last week to get back in touch with one of my childhood acquaintances from the above photo thanks to a blog entry I posted in 2003 and the magic of Google. I loved these friends like brothers and sisters. Let me categorize a few of my stronger childhood friend influences that I attribute to this class in no particular order.
- The studious friends who made me want to make my brain more smarter
- The kind friends who accepted me for who I was (or wasn't)
- The comedic friends / acquaintances who taught me that humor is a great power to have
I feel like they inspired me to be a better person as a result. I think I realized how cool my friends were when I was nine years old. Unfortunately, this happened
after my family moved to Northwest Houston in 1978 when I became The New Kid At School. Post Elementary was definitely
not the same as Longfellow Elementary. To start off with, I'd never met kids that cursed like sailors before. Second, I was subjected to differential treatment by being called ''Mork'' and ''Four Eyes'' as a sort of cruel mutual group welcome. Third, Longfellow classes were taught in enclosed classrooms whereas Post classes were taught in wide open-areas with no walls. It wasn't all bad, I'm sure, but trauma seems to have a way of sticking with you like gum under your shoe. Like a bee's stinger in your skin. Like, uh, okay I ran out of analogies. Still, that's all over with and it made me who I am today. I'm content. Don't expect me to go on a shotgun rampage to find the mean kids from Post anytime soon. Hmmm. Well, maybe I could egg and t.p. their houses? Hmmmm.
