Senior English

And I don't mean senior as in senior citizen.  I mean senior as in high school senior.

It was a rite of passage to endure Mr. Clark's tough senior English class back in the day.  I remember well the Harbrace Handbook.  Stupid handbook.  I also recall the number of my error(s).  It was 16.  Now I'm not sure if it was a letter or number came after that 16.  It could have been 16-A or maybe 16-7.  I just remember my grammatical errors we in section 16 of that dreaded handbook.  Obviously, I did not learn from my mistakes.  I received notations on every paper to check "16" such and so.  Why didn't I get it?  Could it be I wasn't paying attention?  Or dreaded writing?  Did I just (gasp) not care?  I know I cared, but probably not very much.

What I learned in that class was that I was not a good writer.  That I was a bad writer.   I could never be good enough for an "A". It wasn't perfect.  OK, so what is perfect?   I've searched for perfection and only have found it in a bar of chocolate.  Or Chocolate Stuff from Barbara Jean's restaurant on St. Simons Island.

Today I chose to write because I like it.  It's fun.  It is an expression of how I feel and what I think.   It's my effort is to make people laugh, reflect and enjoy life.  How can we instill wanting to write in our children?  How can we encourage them?   How can we make it fun?  In my opinion, everything we do should be as much fun as possible.  Let's face it.  Lots of things, well, just aren't fun - unless we search to find the fun in the task at hand.  

All those years ago, I remember John for encouraging me.  John was so smart.  He still is. Maybe I thought some of his "smart" would rub off on me.  NOT! He did help me put things into perspective.  For that, I am grateful and thanks to John, I got one good grade in Senior English.  It was for TALKING though.  Now, THAT's something I'm good at . . .


Just Bebe