ms o'neal

last weekend, we went to my daddy's after the ole miss game so that we would be there sunday for pictures (see post below!). as usual, i got up and went straight for the paper. i don't know what it is with the greenwood commonwealth. there's really not hardly anything in it. but for some reason, especially on sundays, i'm drawn to it. either in person or via the internet.

i love reading the comics. why? i can't answer that one! then there's the "lifestyle" section (on sundays only). i love seeing who's getting married, who got married, what babies have been born, etc. lastly (and pretty much in the backwards fashion), i read the "main" part of the paper. the "news" part with the editorials, sports, news, and obituaries.

it's this last part that got me.......

i was excited to be out of kindergarten and going to the first grade. at pillow, we would always go (with our parents) about a week before school started to find out what class we would be in and who our teacher would be. i can remember wanting mrs coleman. when we got to the school, we found out that i had ms o'neal. many of my closest friends were in mrs coleman's class, but i had some in ms o'neal's, too, so it was fine.

i can remember our math quizzes in particular. they were small square sheets and i would rush to see how fast i could do them. they had one big star on one side. rarely did i miss one! and i was shocked that year when i won the math award for the first grade.

ms o'neal was about as perfect of a first grade teacher as i could ever want. she never married and loved her career and her students. she was not a teacher who went into it for the convenience of being off in the summer - she wanted her children to learn. she loved me and i felt special as her student. she wore orthopedic shoes and i never knew what was wrong, but felt sorry for her none the less.

a few years ago, when i was pregnant, i was walking through the mall. sitting on a bench was a face i would have recognized anywhere. it was ms o'neal. i took a second look and she caught my eye. she recognized me as well. we hugged and i sat down beside her.

she was waiting on her sister to shop some and said that she just needed a break. i think that God knew i needed to see her and have a conversation. we talked about our present conditions - what each of us was doing - and some stories from around 1985. we lost track of time sitting on that bench just reminiscing and talking.....

she asked if i remembered the only time she had to get on to me. i told her no. she said that we were in our reading circle time and i got up (with another friend) and we said the pledge of allegiance right there. she said, "i was giggling inside and proud that you knew it and wanted to say it, but it was an inappropriate time, so you got in trouble!"

i told her how much i appreciated her as a teacher. how much she meant to me.

i'm glad i did.

in sunday's paper was the obituary for patricia nell o'neal, 68 years old. God blessed me to not only have her as a teacher, but to allow our paths to cross just a few short years back so that i could let her know what she meant to me. i am so thankful for that opportunity. she will be greatly missed.

thank you, ms o'neal, for helping lay the foundation of my education. i couldn't have asked for better.......