March.....To the Beat of Your Own Drum!

"That one marches to the beat of her own drum.".....I was a kid the first time I heard that expression, and I certainly did not have a clue what my Momma was talking about! Many thoughts passed through my grammar school aged brain....Such as: "I did not know she played the drums"...And...."I did not know they let grade school teachers march with the Southside Falcon Marching band". Like I said, I did not have a clue....It took me years to realize that phrase was NOT such a good thing to have said about you.

My Mom was talking (gossiping, actually) with some other mothers about a teacher at our school....a teacher that I was going to have for the new school year. I heard them say "Not only does she teach that "New Fangled Math", but she is so lazy that she makes the students do her classroom bulletin boards". I cannot remember the entire list on the gossip roster that day....but those two things stood out in my mind.

The first one...."New Fangled Math"...caught my attention in a negative way. I had always abhorred Math....(I realize now, I was perfectly average in my skills)... I just did not like it! But the Bulletin Boards.....I really kinda thought I liked the idea of that! I always loved arts and crafty type things! I would stare in awe at some of the bulletin boards in the hallways and the class rooms.....thinking how much fun it must have been for the teacher to do them! So the thought of actually getting to do one really peaked my interest in the new school year.....I thought I just might like my new teacher and her drum.

Sure enough....It was only a few weeks into the school year that she announced that students would be doing the next class room bulletin board. She had done the 'Welcome Back to School" one so that the class room would be properly decorated for our return to the new school year. She asked for volunteers....and my hand shot up in record breaking time! "Oh, Oh, pleeessseeee pick me"....I thought to myself as I bounced up and down in the seat. She looked at the hands that were up, and then asked us to put them back down, stating that she would talk with us later. Kinda weird, I thought. Ump...I definitely was not feeling "the beat" of that one.

Soon after lunch, it was Weekly Reader time! (I am really showing my age...do any of you remember the Weekly Reader Newspaper????) We were allowed time to work quietly on our own as we read the paper magazine and did the puzzles. Midway my word scramble....she came to my desk. "So, would you like to help me with this month's bulletin board?" OH, MY GOODNESS...you would have thought I had just won Miss America! My little heart skipped a beat...I was grinning from ear to ear. After all...it was the October bulletin board...and there would be pumpkins!!!! I had already dreamed of and concocted a "fall theme" in my head, in hopes of the possibility of this event! (Those of you who know me, are grinning right now, knowing this kind of behavior is still TOTALLY true to who I am today! LOL!)

Unfortunately, the rejoicing was short lived. She sweetly informed me....."I am so excited that you want to help.... BUT (the truth is always behind the BUT)...in order to help me, you must do all of your Math sheets at home, and a day early." I am positive I did not say "Oh, Crap"....but I am sure I thought the equivalent. She obviously saw the rapid switch from elation to dejection in my pudgy pre-pubescent face. "Whats wrong?" she asked.

Now this was a big dilemma for a fifth grader. Should I tell her the truth...which was that I stunk at Math....or should I go along with the plan....begin work on the bulletin board and hope she would let me stay on the project? Alas....I stayed true to my Lily White Sunday School Persona...and told her the truth. "That's OK, if you want some extra help and do no mind coming a bit early or staying a bit late, then I will be glad to help you with your work sheets". Now honestly, I did not realize then, what a big and generous offer that was....after all, she had a husband and two kids...so I am sure extra minutes here and there were a real sacrifice for her.

Long story short....Because of her willingness and dedication, I became a pretty good math student that year. One B and the rest A's if I remember correctly. However, the most useful lesson I learned was how to feel free to be creative. She let me pick the colors....she let me decide how to organize the leaves with all the kids names on them. She delighted in my idea to use colored yarn for the branches. I am sure she suggested ideas and influenced my decisions...but she did it in a way that I could still be "me". She urged me to be different...to be bold...to "color outside of the lines", so to speak! And I listened, I learned, and I began to march to the beat of MY own drum!

I often wondered if she had ANY IDEA, at the time, of the glorious, monster of creativity she was germinating inside me? And you know what...I think she did. I think she recognized it...early on....and seized the moment....and tapped out a cadence on her drum that was music to my little ears. She continued to take interest in my life...she came to our wedding (she taught Mark too)...she would show up at concerts or weddings where Mark and I would be singing. Mark and I sent her a copy of every CD we ever recorded. It was always such a treat to run into her.

A good many years later....Mark and I were not only married but now had two kids... I got a phone call from one of her neighbors that was a mutual friend, letting me know that my sweet teacher, had gone on to be with the Lord. She also wanted me to know, that among her belongings and boxes of memories and keepsakes from her teaching years, she had a scrapbook of just me. I had to sit down, I was at a loss for words.

Dozens of local newspaper clippings, various magazine articles, playbills...among other tid bits like my graduation and wedding invitations were in there....even church and wedding bulletins where she had gone to hear me and Mark sing... all were in the book. I was beyond flattered, and I felt incredibly loved. And for a moment...I could have sworn I heard a drum beating, ever so faintly.... And I still hear it from time to time...especially during times when I am "Stuck" creatively.

Weird, you say? That's OK...see, I "March to the beat of my own drum". And you know what, I also realize that IS a good thing.

Keep Marchin' Y'all!
~Scarlett





L