the teachings and noticings
Those rosebushes are still pricking at me.
My brothers and I have separately returned to the house on Harvest Hill Lane to revisit, something healing to know that we recovered from that moment. I did a quick record search to check for the homeowner of the address next door to that house we lived in.
The name I found was Dr. Judith Scott, a retired school psychologist for the Arlington ISD, who may have been the one paying attention when no one else was. I’ve been sitting with it since last night. I think I want to track her down to thank her.
Of course her vocation has the exact training needed to notice things happening to kids. Her bio in the Arlington Great Southwest Rotary Club says, “Dr. Scott enjoys yoga, working in her flower garden, attending events at the Kimbell Museum, and attending live theater presentations.”
The flower garden directly correlates with the rosebushes.
I may enlist the help of my Facebook connections. Yes, that’s what I’ll do.
Teachers have a great importance in my life. Other than my adopted parents, Brian and Tammy, the ones who showed up were coincidentally teachers and coaches.
Ms. Linda Levick, my second grade teacher, who took me and 4 other Vietnamese girls from my neighborhood, in a tiny GM Geo, on weekend excursions to the gardens, zoos, and museums.
Ms. Michele Barr, who is a Ms. Frizzle-come-to-life, was my Speech & Debate Coach in junior high. She even lent me a skirt suit for one of my debate competitions. One day, she saw me walking to school on a 1-mile route, and said she would start picking me up and dropping me off at home. One mile isn’t very far, but I grew up in the very town where Amber Hagerman, who the Amber Alert is named after, was kidnapped and murdered 5 years earlier.
I thought I’d never see Ms. Barr again when we moved, but then found her teaching English next door at the new high school I attended sophomore year. She was one of the first people who nurtured my writing skills, and helped me spruce up the valedictory speech.
Ms. Cora Kiene, my 8th grade English teacher, who nurtured my love of reading. I’ll never forget the winter break where I went home with 4 Harry Potter books she lent out, and gorged them within 2 weeks.
And finally, Coach Debra Stroud, cross country and track in junior high, who noticed my running performance wasn’t improving, and asked about my diet. She was a single mom with 2 daughters on a coach salary, who took me to the grocery store and purchased groceries.
I have so much to be grateful for. Their actions are the inspiration behind Our Values and Philosophy at the Summer Camp Project. They believed in me. I was Safe, Seen, and Welcome.
