Tenax Propositi Vinco

Preamble: 
In my  fifth year of teaching I started a new job - at my old school where for the next twelve years, until I moved to Turkey in the mid-nineties,  I had the joy of having several of my beloved teachers as my colleagues! 

Fast forward: Today I drove to Maldon where I had a leisurely three hour lunch with two of my old teacher colleagues, Dave and Tony, (and Jan too - though, being the same age as me, she, like me, is ex-pupil then colleague). How we chuckled today at the memories of 16 year old me in their class - and I recall how years later, I had learn to call them by their first names in the staff room!  Dave was Mr Bumble when we did "Oliver", and acted in other productions we did and is still involved with local am drams.  Dave and Tony were the teacher chaperones on my first school trip abroad to France at the end of my fifth year with Lorna and Janet and Linda amongst others.....These and other memories of such halcyon days, the time just flew past this afternoon, in a wonderful haze of happiness.

This was the third time in as many weeks that I have got together with folk I haven't seen for 30 years. I don't understand why it has never occurred to me to reach out before - but now that I've found them, I intend to keep all these lovely, lovely people in my life. My old school motto:'Tenax propositi vinco' (Through tenacity comes success.)