I attended several U.S. D.o.D. schools in Europe before my parents settled in Aurora, dragging me with them, as they had around the globe the eleven years preceding. From March 1966 to May 1966, I was enrolled as a fifth grader at Montclair Elementary School, in Denver. Only once before had I experienced McDonalds, or television, or Ding Dongs. I had never been on a school bus. I loved the experience of making new friends with the children of the neighborhood, making noise on the bus, watching Batman on friends’ Lorna and Paul Kerswill, TV with Twinkies and milk. The Kerswill parents were British immigrants who managed The Hitching Post, where my parents had rented an efficiency apartment while they searched for a home.
My teacher’s name was Mr. Dunn. After recess, Mr. Dunn played Glenn Miller records. Later, a fifth grade teacher myself, for Happy Bucks, which, in my classroom, really had some value, I had one of my little servants play Disc jockey, turning 60’s 45’s on the turntable while his classmates wrote in their journals. The short time I spent at Montclair Elementary School holds a special place in my heart, not only for the play on the monkey bars with Paul and Lorna, but the architecture of the building, red brick made an impression on me, a young vulnerable boy in a new world.
The world needs more schools like Montclair, more teachers like Mr. Dunn. To see where this story leads, please read the post “How I Bullied the Bullies”.
There is one life.
I did not know it then.
I do now.
This life is perfect.
I did not know it then.
i do now.
This life is my life.
I did not claim it then; I do now.
I accept.
I give thanks.
I release.
And so it is.
Amen.
AmerIcanValuesRestored 