Sandy Supposes....

Nancy

Prompt : Fun Fact Friday! On his day in 1773 , the first schoolhouse to be located west of the Allegheny Mountains was built In Schoenbrunn , Ohio . What's one of your fondest memories from the early days of your schooling?

         Well, first of all my elementary school was not at the site of a new frontier town, nor was it the original establishment of learning here in the Canadian wilderness. Yes, it did appear to be an immense stone fortress surrounded by a large yard teeming with screaming, running children. I remember feeling so small, but I was too excited to be frightened . At five, I was finally a big enough girl to go to this promised land known as school. I was probably shaking or trembling; I never could stand still when I eagerly anticipated something . I don't think I shed any tears. This was not a sad occasion. I saw shelves stuffed with glorious books, lots of plain paper waiting to be painted with a rainbow of colours, a coat hook with my name over it, and a little girl like me, smiling shyly.

          This yellow-haired girl with the blue eyes became my instant best friend. She was a giggler, and a gabber just like me. Our friendship was meant to be, she had five letters in her name and so did I. My name ended in a 'y', and so did hers.

          Nancy was always with me. We saved chairs, and spots on the reading rug for each other. At nap time, we would spread our blankets beside one another , sometimes, holding hands. Miss Clare would tell us to keep our hands to ourselves. Many times, we were shushed and given the finger to the lips sign that we knew meant 'be quiet'. Napping, what was that, something for babies? We were five and never sleepy. We would have our heads touching while we whispered in each other's ears. We had so much to share. When we laughed we couldn't help it, whispering tickles the ears. Seeing Miss Clare frown and shake her head didn't stop us.

         I wasn't good with scissors. I struggled to grasp them, and cut. We were supposed to make big Valentine's hearts for our mothers and the first step had been to practise cutting newspaper before getting the red construction paper. I was the last kid, sitting by herself, with torn and crumpled newspaper. The other kids were busy decorating their heartfelt cards, and I didn't have one yet. My best friend, Nancy,finished her Valentine, and came to help me. Basically, we cheated. She cut a perfect heart from the newspaper, and I presented it to the teacher as mine. Then Nancy cut another perfect heart from the red paper, and I decorated and signed it. We were a great team. After all these years, I realize that my kindergarten teacher had to have known what we did. We were two five-year old girls, not super spies. Miss Clare must have been a wise woman to recognize the true giving spirit of my friend. This was far more important than my lack of scissor skill.