Everything is coming up roses! Literally. On the last night of my ASL II class, my students marched into class one-by-one in a parade of roses; each carrying a rose bush in their arms. I was stunned and could barely see through the tears in my eyes. In my 30 years of teaching, I have never had such a wonderful community of students in one classroom. As I expressed in a letter of gratitude to my students, "If you are the last class I ever teach, I am totally satisfied..." So, here's thanks to:
Lisa and Jeryme for the gift of the Geraldine Ferraro rose last week, and especially to Lisa for signing my poem; Laura for coming up with the rose bush idea; Christina & Jessica for being my computer geek tech-heads; Bruna and Theressa for being "my girls" who sign like the wind and will one day make a great interpreting team; Debbie and Charlene for being the best cooks, best room-moms, best sisters, ever;
Isabelle for her humor, her accent and her lovely way of being; Pat for always being there for me in the front row cheering me and everyone else on regardless of what's going on in her life; Lynsey for putting up with the "teacher who taught her teacher" and for making us roar and hoot with her final; Nelson and Kari for adding just a little sensuality to sign language; Lisa for being my ASL 1 TA and for sharing her children with us; all the newbies: Tara, Cristin, Margo and Karen, for putting up with an unconventional classroom and especially to Karen who shared with us her passion for life and the love of her life, her son, David; Jessica B who is always willing to take notes for us; "the other Lindsey" for her constant smile and enthusiasm for signing; Sarah for sharing her family with us and her willingness to always help someone and participate; Ray for just putting up with us; Kristina for her perseverance and her stunning final poem; and Susan for supporting my obsession with weight loss and, who could not be with us in person, but, who through the tech-heads in class, got to see our finals virtually. Lastly, our TAs, Michelle and Kirsten for sharing their time and expertise with us.
I'll be busy digging up a new rose bed for Chrysler Imperial (red), Hedge Rose (red), John F. Kennedy (white), Shrub Rose (red), Color Me Pink (pink), Goldilocks (yellow), Honey Perfume (yellow), and my favorite last three names, Sheer Bliss (pink), Knock-Out (red) and Simply Marvelous (purple). Here's to you, my simply marvelous class, I'll think of you with every bloomin' rose.
