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“That says Reitman Elementary School, Mommy!” Jimmy Applegrass announced. It was important for the new kindergartner to display his reading ability, not only to reassure himself he belonged in this gigantic building – ten times the size of his own house, but to prove to the other children that he was smart. Jimmy was determined to let the world in on the fact that he was, as his grandmother concluded so often, an intelligent little rascal. He wasn’t sure what rascal meant, but he was sure it was something good.
“Yes, Jimmy, that’s exactly what it says,” Mrs. Applegrass replied. Her son was attending his first day of school at Reitman Elementary; she had walked this same path some twenty-five years earlier. Her mind marveled at the passing of time. Was it actually speeding up? It seemed to her that it was an indisputable fact.
“Mom –”
Jimmy stopped in the middle of the hallway, pulling his mom to a halt too.
“Is this where Jesus went to school?”
“No, Jimmy, Jesus went to school in Nazareth, I believe.”
“Did he pack a lunch or eat food from the cafeteria?” Jimmy asked, refusing to move an inch closer to his classroom until the question was addressed.
“I’m not sure, Jimmy,” his mother replied. The youngster had a knack for nearly impossible to answer questions.
Jimmy appeared disappointed by his mother’s answer. He dropped his chin to his chest and began baby-stepping toward the classroom doorway.
“He alternated, Jimmy,” the smiling and beautiful Ms. Duffingham answered. “Why one day it was Sloppy Joes dished out by the lunch lady, and the next day it was a ham and cheese sandwich carefully constructed by Mother Mary.”
Jimmy’s head returned to its normal height, a smile slid onto his face, and he sauntered into the classroom. He liked his teacher; she knew something his mother didn’t. He didn’t even know that was possible. That’s probably why she’s a teacher, he thought.
Jimmy’s mom smiled at him and waved goodbye, turning to make her way back down the hallway and out to the parking lot. She’d have to stop at the grocery store on the way home; she hoped ham and cheese was on sale today.
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