A SURPRISE VISITOR!

My friend Rick is always harping on me to add a "Recent Comments" link to my blog's main page. He says no one looks at old posts; once a new one goes up, the previous one dies and decomposes with all the others in the morgue that is politely called "Archives." So if someone does come along with a stray comment for an old post, no one will ever see it.

I see his point. But it seemed largely theoretical. Is there really a danger that someone will be reading old posts and making fabulous comments that go unread? Plus, I'm lazy AND busy AND a technophobe; he's lucky I know how to turn on the computer, let alone figure out how to make a "Recent Comments" link. (If you recall, he's also the one, when I started this blog, who essentially said the presentation was boring, that I needed to customize it and add some pictures, etc.)

An aside: I think the "Dummy" and "Idiot" how-to guides are marketed all wrong. Instead of "Computers for Dummies" or "Car Stereos for Idiots," they should be called something like "Computers for People who are Profoundly Indifferent to Computers" or "Car Stereos for People who Want Technology but who are also Bored to Tears by it." Because I think a lot of times it's not "dumb" that's the issue; it's deep apathy. If I were a cavewoman and my neighbor lady came over and showed me her fire and her round things — what are they called? wheels? — I'd just be like, "Thanks, but I'm perfectly happy eating my woolly mammoth raw and dragging stuff around on animal skins."

It would take a major event for me to see the value of fire. And it took a major event for me to see the value of Rick's "Recent Comments" suggestions.

The major event — which also doubles as the nicest thing that's happened to me in recent memory — is this: On Saturday, my second-grade teacher left a comment on a post I wrote about her two months ago. My second-grade teacher. You know, from like 32 years ago. She lives on the West Coast now. She's 70. She found my posts (April 15, April 26) about her and had her son post this magnificent letter to me:

Dear KC,

I have asked my son, Craig, to post a reply to your blog. My son is Craig Cyr who has a blogspot account. And I was your second grade teacher - Hildred Cyr. Thank goodness for the world wide web that we now have this connection.

I was so surprised to find my name on a blog. Thank you for your kind words about me. I was interested to hear about your comparison between me and Lili St. Cyr. I had never seen a picture of her although I did know about her.

You are right....I was a "women's libber" then and I would call my self a "feminist" now. I've always been a social activist and will die one. Girls back then did get a "raw deal" as you said, particularly ones in rural areas in conservative states.

Teaching in Wellsville was very challenging due to the small town mentality that pervaded Wellsville. I was liberal and the town was conservative. And yet, I know that many parents wanted their children in my class....and there were many that didn't want their children in my class.

Wellsville was very insular....the only way to get there was to drive. There were no buses, trains, or planes that brought people to the town. The school district was very small. And yet, the students in the classrooms were generally eager to learn and I rose to the challenge to the best of my ability. As did the other teachers including the two that you mentioned - Miss Justus and Mrs. Hylton. They were my best friends at the school.

You mentioned Hanukkah. We studied this holiday each year because just before my first year of teaching started, a Jehovah's Witness mother stormed into my room and notified me that her daughter could not participate in any Christmas activities. We agreed that because Jesus was a Jew, and certainly celebrated Hanukkah as a boy, that that would be acceptable. And because of this encounter, a tradition was born in my classroom. We celebrated all 8 days of this holiday each year. I was a Unitarian Universalist then and am still one now (there is a UU church in Lawrence, Kansas). Christmas dominated Kansas. It was time for kids to know that there were other holidays that were celebrated.

You were in my 1974-1975 2nd grade class. I was 38 years old that year. Wow....I was young. I turned 70 years old this past January.

I am relieved to know that you and your classmates almost certainly have never parked in a handicapped space. :-) It is interesting to note that I currently have a disabled parking pass due to compression fractures in my back (I use a walker).

Now, about my hair: I wore a wig then because I didn't make enough money to go to the hair salon each week. The white streak that you saw in front, however, was my own hair. All of my hair is now white....no more wigs.

Thanks again KC for your kind remarks. If you should like to correspond with me directly, you'll have to haul out a pencil and paper and send a note to me at 2480 N. Crestview Place, Oak Harbor, WA 98277-2002.

Fondly,
Your 2nd Grade Teacher - Hildred Cyr

Amazing. I didn't expect to get any surprise visitors on my blog, except maybe my boss, if you know what I mean. But this is amazing. Thank goodness for the world wide web that we now have this connection. Thank goodness indeed.

And my apologies to Mrs. Cyr, to whom I am writing a more detailed letter in my best cursive, for getting a few things wrong, like the spelling of her best friends' names and assuming she was Jewish. I think a lot of people assumed she was Jewish because of the Hanukkah celebration. It was beyond people at that place and time that someone might do something not out of self-interest but for the sake of diversity.

It has occurred to me also to feel bad about some bad language and naughtiness in my other posts, in case she read those, too. But the more I think about it, the more I think she would appreciate that I have a big, sassy mouth — that of all the things she taught me, being "ladylike" was not one of them.

Another thing that amazes me, because I don't have the accomplishment to show for it, is that I am older now than she was in my second-grade picture. But never mind that.

Wow, Mrs. Cyr, we are both still young.