Nine Years Later

When I last posted, I wrote about being in the third grade. Nine years later, it was time to graduate from high school. Things had not improved much as far as academics, and my name was not posted on the list to graduate that year. I was making all "D's" as I had done for years, so what was the problem?

Well, some pesky math teacher had the audacity to give me an "F". His reasoning was that I had lost my math book at the beginning of the school year, so I flunked most of the tests. When I begged for mercy the day before graduation, he agreed to raise the "F" to a "D", if I found the book and turned it in.

There was a problem. I had no clue in hell where the book might be. And another problem surfaced. I was given a note from the hall monitor that said the Dean wanted to see me immediately. It just so happened that I still had half of a year of detention hall left because I had been caught cutting classes. I informed the Dean that I would not be graduating and had no intention of returning to school in the fall. Before I exited his office he told me he had something that belonged to me. He handed me the math book that had been turned into lost and found some months earlier. I immediately took it to the math instructor and he kept his end of the bargain by changing my grade to a "D". I proudly graduated with my class in 1966.

I wish now that I would have paid more attention in school. If I had, writing, editing, and proofing my novels today would sure be a lot easier for me.