Ms. Jing

28 DEC 2009

We are coming to the end of another year, my, my, what a year it has been. I was sitting here this morning doing a little reflecting and I got stuck in a period about seven years ago. Angel was about a year old and after staying at home with her for the first year, I was bored out of my mind, so I decided to go back to school. There is a child development center on the campus and in order for Angel to go to the school without me having to pay for it I had to take a parenting class, that’s where my story begins.

It was in the fall of the year that I returned to school for the life of me I couldn’t understand why I had to take a parenting class, my baby was in his thirties so pretty much I had been a parent for some number of years. As I entered the classroom that first day, I looked around the classroom and all my other classmates were barely in their twenties, some thirties, but only one fifties, me. I don’t remember the lesson just the feeling, like okay, and? Then there was the teacher, Ms Jing. Often I would ask God, why? Why me? The woman was insufferable and I believed she was picking me, singling me out for harassment, I am still not sure that wasn’t part of it. Angel was able to attend this school because at the time she was my foster child, even though she was also my grandchild and she got to go free. This was a blessing for us, we were just starting a business and with the added burden of the cost of child I wouldn’t have been able to return to school and school is what I needed at that time in this journey.

Ms Jing and I bumped heads several times that semester with some of the madness resulting in an appearance before her department head. I felt I was completely right on this issue and I would not back down, and neither would she. Well the department head agreed with me and that battle I won, and I won a lot of them. Ahh, but the war? She won that one, she failed me in her class and that meant for Angel to continue at the school I would have to retake that class and Ms. Jing was the only teacher.

Now I am sure I was a big part of the problem and I had to sit down and talk to me, because I wasn’t gonna take this class a third time. I was gonna have to really pay attention, be on time and all that stuff.

So I did and you know what I actually learned some things. She made us keep a journal that she would read and she made us write about real life things that were affecting our lives, which means she got to know each one of us a little bit better while she made us know ourselves better.

While sharing one day in class Ms. Jing told us a little bit about her early years, if memory serves me correctly, and it might not, but she is from China and little girls didn’t really matter over there. I can remember her telling about sitting in her living room watching her parents at neighbors’ homes socializing. She wanted to go to college but a college education was deemed worthless for a female child and her brother was the elected one to come to America and be educated. I get a little foggy but something happen and her brother for whatever reason was not going to college. I believe monies had already been spent so through her determination she was able to take her brother’s place and that’s how she ended up in America where dreams do come true. I found a new respect for her and I passed the class.

Ms Jing left Valley College and I lost contact with her till one day I was looking through email addresses and came upon hers. I dropped her line so we kinda stayed in touch off and on. I had put up on facebook some pictures of Angel and invited her to see Angel now eight. When she responded she told me she had read some of my blogs and that I was a tough old bird. Hmm a tough old bird, I like that.

Oh yeah and her making us keep a Journal? That was my first blog, Thanks Ms. Jing.