Ellie

Ah…this now seems like spring. It’s not spring until I’ve helped out with the Mr. Mac High show in McMinnville.  For those uninitiated to this, Mr. Mac High is a fundraiser for Doernbecher’s Children Hospital in Portland. While I taught at McMinnville High and served as the Doernbecher Club advisor, we raised close to $300,000 for this worthwhile cause. The show itself is a lovefest of clumsy high school boys dancing, singing, and parading around in tuxedos and other funny garb at their best.
 
These two lovely ladies in this shot have one thing in common. It’s their name: Ellie. Ellie on the right is the artist creator of this beautiful Yellow Submarine (the theme of this year’s contest). Beautiful submarine, Ellie. Ellie on the left is Ellie on the left, sister of a girl I had in class a few years ago, a great kid. I met her last Sunday when I went in for a tuxedo fitting. Long story short, I appreciated her because of her granddaughter-esque name of Ellie, and because of the travails we experienced with one of our granddaughters this week, I told her today that I wanted her as my personal assistant for this year’s show.
 
The other thought I had when I saw Ellie last Sunday is that I would not have a chance to teach her poetry, talk to her about novels and great writing, to check in with her and her classmates on Monday mornings about how their weekend went. In short, I’d never have Ellie in class.  And for one of the first times since I retired in 2013, I felt profoundly sad about all of that. But there’s not much I can do about that now…but for this one weekend, Ellie and I can share helping out with this great cause of raising money for a children’s hospital in Portland. Maybe I’ll share some poetry books with Ellie now; maybe she’ll stay in touch next year when she travels to Chile on exchange. She seems like a terrific kid. And my first thought when I saw her last Sunday…man, she looks SO smart!
 

The youth of America…I really do miss them.