Linda Pierce

Mrs. Pierce.. My 5th grade teacher. I can almost remember every student in that class.. Almost. It was by far my favorite year of elementary school, and I love Mrs. Pierce like you would a grandmother. She is one person my buddy Daniel and I wanted to introduce to all of our friends. She has always been so proud of us and she has literally watched us grow up since before teen years.

I remember a time when Daniel and I were trying to come up with words, make them up and give them meaning. Daniel came up with feezshes. It was short, clever, and it was OURS! We used it for anything, far better than cussing (which we didn't do at the time) and it was amusing to us. Daniel ended up using it in class one day and Mrs. Pierce freaked out! He appeared to be in trouble and we didn't know why, after all it was our word, right? Well, when she understood that we REALLY didn't mean anything by it, she grabbed a dictionary and showed us the definition of "feces" which at that time neither of us really knew the word... Needless to say, we were embarrassed and stopped using the word.

The other thing she stressed was cursive. Always cursive. To this day I still impress people because that's how I write when I have a pen. I just find it neater, smoother, and all around nicer looking. It is scary to say that some people can't read my hand writing because it is in cursive..

While she worked at Knox elementary Daniel and I would visit her from time to time. We ended up becoming known to quite a few of the teachers there. Half because we talked to them with Mrs. Pierce and had had them as teachers, and, well, when you see a couple of older teenagers struttin' their stuff right after an elementary school lets out, some teachers aren't comfortable.

Needless to say, it came to the point to where we knew the staff IN the office, and all of the teachers  in Mrs. Pierces building. There was a time Daniel and I had a half day in high school, so we went DURING class at Knox. We received guest passes ONLY cause we knew the front desk lady, she called Mrs. Pierce and let her know we were coming. We ended up helping out throughout the class, and ended up playing basketball with them during recess. It was a ton of fun, but some of the staff were uncomfortable with it and we weren't allowed to do it again.

Every time we are there, she asks about my and Daniel's family's, she knows both our older siblings and younger. She used to ask how my dad was doing during my parents divorce, and about Dylan, seeing as how he was the youngest at the time during my parents divorce.

She was the person to make me fall in love with the Phantom of the Opera story. I have read the book, seen the silent black and white movie, the old school remake, and the newest one because of her.

I have both her house number and cell number saved in my phone, and I know she has mine. We were supposed to do lunch, the three of us, about a year ago, but we never got around to doing it. I guess I should give her a call.

"Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime. Lead me, save me from my solitude. Say you want me with you here, beside you. Anywhere you go let me go too. Christine, that's all I ask of you."
-The Phantom in Phantom of the Opera

~Just a thought