Early on this Memorial Day morning, I opened an email from a colleague. He quoted from Lincoln's dynamic ending of the Gettysburg Address:
"It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
school, right where her students could see it as we debarked from our busses. She baptized herself daily in a distinctive cologne that (thankfully) I’ve never encountered anywhere else. Her “fragrance” accosted your nose as you stepped inside the building. No doubt about it—Ella Mae was in the house. She stood probably 5’11” (or so it seemed to my small self), and wore clothing and sturdy foundations that would make my grandmother proud. I think her very person made the principal tremble! She was an unavoidable force.
As in her routines, Mrs. Smith was equally undeviating in her lesson plans. Her curriculum was set to an arcane standard only she could force roomfuls of snotty kids to achieve year after year. When you reached her class, you knew what was coming. Incessant drill-downs on facts and dates. Snarky retorts (as in, I know you CAN, but MAY you?). And line after line of rote memorization of the classics. Including recitations of, yes, the Gettysburg Address.
I wonder if there exist teachers like Ella Mae anymore? (I'd never have dared to call her by her first name then, but she's no longer with us so I think I'm safe!). Those who hold a personal standard high and demand learning, not only demand but (I can see only now from this vantage point) facilitate it. On this holiday of remembering the ultimate sacrifice of thousands of brave freedom fighters representing our great land, I'm grateful that Ella Mae taught us not only the words, but the meaning, that "these dead shall not have died in vain" and that it is our turn now … "it is rather for us the living" … to continue the active pursuit of freedom. She put history in context and contemporized its implications. She forced us to think. She’d never let us slouch. And under her watch, at least we’d understand the roles we ought to play in the culture. The roles purchased for us in the blood of those who fought to secure our freedoms.
I looked up Ella Mae online this morning (sadly I couldn’t find a photo), but I did locate a contemporary of mine who posted on FB a scanned handwritten congratulatory letter she had sent to him when he graduated from high school. What struck me was her description of herself: “Your friend and former teacher (5th grade).” Seems to me I have one of those stashed somewhere in my mementoes, as well.
I don’t think I would have classified her as my BFF back in fifth grade, but now, I’m not so sure. I’m thinking that in demanding excellence from us and teaching us by example, Mrs. Ella Mae Smith may have been one of the best friends who ever crossed paths with my fifth-grade self.
Julie
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