Reflecting.....

James Taylor wrote:
I remember Richard Nixon back in ‘74
And the final scene at the White House door
And the staff lined up to say goodbye
Tiny tear in his shifty little eye
He said, Nobody knows me.
Nobody understands.
These little people were good to me.
Oh, I want to shake some hands.
Somebody line ‘em up,
Line ‘em all up,
Line ‘em up, Line ‘em all up.

What if, before our final scene, we could shake hands with those folks who were pivotal in our lives; whose actions or words, however small, changed us, altered our life course, or just remained forever lodged in our memories. I gave thought to some of the folks in my past I might want to thank. Ms. Peebles, my second grade teacher, was Hispanic and taught us words in Spanish and the wonderful Goodbye Song: "Adios, Auf Weidersehen, Au Revoir, and Syonara too, they all mean goodbye, goodbye to you...." I would shake her hand and say, "Ms. Peebles, I remember." There’s Mr. Sartor, my high school English teacher, who encouraged me to write and to read novels of substance, avoiding what he termed "popcorn" books. To this day there are times when someone asks me what I’m reading and I’ll have to say "Oh, just a little popcorn book." I would shake his hand and say, "Thank you, Mr. Sartor. I remember." I will always remember a single mother in Atlanta cautioning me, when I was pregnant, to remember to take time for myself and that caring for my child meant caring for myself. I remember the boy, Mitch, who wrote in my yearbook, "You’re nice to hold hands with." Sometimes it’s the very little things that you remember most or that just stick in your mind and never leave. To all those pivotal people in my life, I say in my mind, "Thank you. I remember."