Most Wanted Posters - Friday

She is pure bliss...and she reminds of someone I worked for as an Instructional Aide (Teacher's Aide) before I began my own teaching career.

The teacher I worked for as an aide was neither traditionally beautiful, nor very knowledgeable in my mind, which really isn't an insult because she was extremely intelligent. She taught fourth grade and had the knowledge you would expect a fourth grade teacher to have, but she thought with the inquisitiveness and passion representative of extreme intelligent. We had great conversations, discussions actually, because anything resembling small talk I consider just a conversation, and she often told me we couldn't talk about anything after school because our little talks would interfere with her work completion. And just as often as she requested this, she would venture a question to me, something she had thought about or was reminded of by something she was doing at her desk, and we were off to the depths of deep discussion.

Rather quickly I found myself attracted to her; however, she was married with two children and the prospect of a relationship was never possible, so the fact she didn't view me in the same light was actually moot. This did not stop me from imagining a life with her and enjoying our time together. After two years the school I worked for needed to make budget cuts and so the classroom aide program was eliminated and I was forced into unemployment. I requested a letter of recommendation from her, as well as from a few other key individuals at the school, but I never received one from her. The other people I asked to write letters promptly penciled beautiful, charming, and applauding epistles, leaving me wondering why my teacher did not do the same.

To this day I like to believe she was in denial of having to lose me in the classroom and hoped the school's decision would somehow be reversed; maybe she couldn't handle saying goodbye to such a dedicated, enlightened adult in her classroom; or maybe if she forced herself to write the letter, she was conscious writing it might have unearthed feelings for me she didn't want to recognize. 

No matter the reason, I still cherish the time I spent in her classroom. Our after school discussions will remain imprinted in my mind, and I will always remember her fondly.