“WHEN ARE WE GOING TO SEW?”
I remember a day in a sewing class in junior high school. Mrs. Nelson was the teacher. She was very tall and elegant with shiny black hair combed straight back and tied with two chignons. She went on and on about silk worms and things that, to me, had nothing to do with sewing until finally I couldn’t take it any more and I yelled out, “When are we going to sew?” All the kids in the class shouted, “Yeah!” That didn’t exactly endear me to Mrs. Nelson. “What did you say?” She asked. All the other kids knew that was the signal to shut up but I just thought she couldn’t hear me. We went back and forth with that same question and answer three times with the class getting more and more amused. Afterwards Mrs. Nelson leaned over and whispered to me, “You are a very stubborn girl.” I just wanted to know when we were going to start sewing. I was fearless as a child. When I think of all the places I went alone – the streets, the park, all over the neighborhood – and never worried about any danger. I would just be off and running. Of course in those days the neighbors sat out in front of their houses after dinner or looked out their windows.
Simon Gratz High School
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