Chapter 39

I could hear the shower running, when I walked in the house. I figured Martha would be finished soon, so I tried out the coffee pot. Thankfully, there was still some there. It was cold, probably the dregs left over from breakfast this morning. I chuckled. Martha thought I was nuts for drinking coffee that had gone cold. To me, there was no such thing as bad coffee. Some was just better than others. Cold coffee heated up was just fine with me.

I managed to get almost a full cup before the pot ran dry. I carried it over to the fancy new microwave that Martha brought back from last week’s trip to Brush with Elizabeth and Fancy. I managed to set it for sixty seconds and pushed the start button. As I waited for the coffee to heat, I couldn’t help but wonder what these companies would come up with next. Hell, I remembered as a kid when the REA ran the electric poles. It was a real wonder for a fourteen year old kid to be able to read after dark without the smell of a kerosene lamp. Things sure had come a long way since then.

The bell sounded, and I opened the microwave oven door and extracted the hot coffee. As I was making my way to my chair, Martha opened the bathroom door. She was wrapped up in big towel and was a bit startled to see me.

“I didn’t hear you come in. How was your day with Elizabeth?”

I sat down in the chair and took a sip of coffee, “It went well. I think she’s getting a feel for the people around here.”

Martha nodded, “I’m going to get dressed, and then I’ll start on dinner.”

“No hurry,” I answered. “We had a late lunch in town.”

Martha hurried off down the hallway, and I settled back in my chair, took another draw from the coffee cup and thought back on the last ten days or so.

The end of the school year went off without a hitch. We closed out the school records on Friday, and the graduation on Saturday was a rousing success. This year the graduating class had been pretty large; we had nine kids walk across the stage to retrieve their diplomas. I’d been through this so many times that it was old hat. I knew there would be many pictures, and accordingly, had worn my best suit, and Martha had bought me a brand new tie, probably at Elizabeth’s instance. I did have to agree; the powder blue tie went nicely with the charcoal gray suit. As I was getting dressed, I let out a good, hearty laugh, thinking of all the fireplace mantels in the county that had my ugly mug up there with a picture of their children.

To me, graduation was both a happy and sad event. I’d had these kids for six years and knew each and every one of them. I was glad to see them graduate, knowing that I’d played my part in making sure they were prepared for the world they were entering. Most of them would fly away to different parts of the country to start a new life as an adult. I was confident that they had learned some of what they needed while in school. The sad part was the world they were entering. Things were much more complicated than when I was their age. Besides, I would miss seeing their faces around the school. After six years, they kind of grow on you.

True to my promise to Elizabeth, on the following Tuesday, we started making the rounds of the farms and families in our school district. About a third of the students came from families in town, the rest from the farms in the area. Being the middle of June, there was not a lot of activity on a farm. The winter wheat was still a good month or so away from harvest, and any other crops had already been planted. This was the time most farmers used to get caught up, working on equipment, repairing outbuildings or fixing fences.