Day #316 Writing Through COVID-19: Again, My Mom

I had such a happy day of teaching. 

At 8 a.m. the broadcasting team opened Amazon boxes that held our new equipment purchased with a school foundation grant. Watch here: https://www.tiktok.com/@ahsneedle/video/6922820405329726725?lang=en&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1) 

Next, the Journalism Production students filled the classroom with laughter and learning as they analyzed their first attempts at video sequencing, exemplified here: 

My yearbook editors took their Day #1 stab at selling sponsorships over the phone. In the past, students have visited local businesses face-to-face. COVID prevents this, so we're learning how to talk on the phone. (#notice Kids can text, but talking on the phone is a scary new skill.) 

I taped eight $1 bills to the cordon that separates my space from student space (yup, COVID). Our classroom energy was electric as the students bucked up their courage to make the calls,  Five of the bills were claimed for sales before the period was up! #Winning
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My freshmen are reading the first chapters of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Guiding young people as they dip into the classics is a book-loving English teacher's nirvana. I love how my repeated question of "What did you notice?" leads to vibrant discussions of character, theme, and writer's craft. When I am teaching at my best, my role is merely to open the doors. The students then step up, venture forward, and guide each other through.

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Two weeks ago my father sent his computer (via taxi) to be repaired. He didn't need to do this, as his error message was "unstable connection," which meant it wasn't his computer but his WIFI that was preventing us to play Bridge on Zoom together. 

The computer tech called me to say my dad's machine was old, but fine, and should be able to handle his meager requirements.

Excuse all that BORING. I needed to say it for this next part to make sense:

Tonight my dad and I played Bridge for the first time in two weeks.

My mom made a short (and lovely) cameo in her long underwear on her way to bed. I told her about my happy day of teaching. Her smile looked sincere.

She was also shrunken, diminished, so tiny now. 

This woman has never been physically large, but her personality, intelligence, and force of effort have been mammoth.

What does it say that I couldn't love her then but can now that she is so small? 
I'm not sure I want to answer that. 
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I began writing about my Zoom time with my parents intending to expound on my dad's and my fantastic execution of our 6-hearts bid on our Bridge hand! 

Yes, it was awesome. 
Yes, we laughed together with glee. 
Yes, we topped the other 74 players on our app.

But when I started to write about it, I wrote about my mom.

Enough.
Be well.
Write.

Allison