I remember.

I remember more from my six years in elementary school than I do the past...eight years of my life.

Those years were, believe it or not, some of the best years of my life. Family aside, I felt like I was on top of the world some days. My head was on straight, and I had direction in my life. As much direction as an eight or nine year old could have.

It is rare that one ends up working where he or she grew up. Most people move on to bigger and better things several thousands of miles away. I came back. And by being back, I run into familiar faces on occasion.

The other day, I ran into one of the librarians from my elementary school. She looked exactly the same...actually, younger because her hair was dyed. But aside from the colored hair, she was exactly how I remembered her to be. Now before you go on calling me out and saying I was born a nerd who spent countless hours at the library, keep in mind that in grade school library time was shared equally amongst all the classrooms. Noone was allowed to venture into the library on their own.

I remember the red light, green light discipline program. I remember paying several tributes to the "thinking mat" in kindergarten. I remember not being allowed to recess because I was actively participating in a spit wad fight during lunch. The spit wads were laced with mashed potatoes. I remember playing wall ball with the boys during recess. I remember getting chocolate milk every lunch. I remember the name posters we had in 5th grade. I remember choir concerts and the choir teacher. I remember each of the PE coaches, and all the 1st place ribbons I won on Field Days. I remember my principal. I remember the STOP students opening the doors for the carpool lane. I remember the King Tut project we did in PACE. I remember the pencil machine and spending (wasting) quarters on it every morning.

You would not believe how many more things I remember...