Before we moved to our new house, I vaguely remember sitting on the floor in a big circle  in kindergarten at Thomas Elementary School. My memories of first and second grade are almost nonexistent. If I had to pick my favorite, third grade would have to be it. I enjoyed it so much, I decided to do it twice. I remember singing along with Michael Jackson on the radio as he sang “ABC, it’s easy as 123″. (Of course, Michael was a little more innocent back then.) I could sing along with the radio for hours. I used to go upstairs and turn on our old radio and just keep turning through the dial until I found a song I liked and just sing along until I heard someone coming up the steps. Then I would stop singing because I was a little too shy to do it in front of other people, but boy did I love to sing.

Third grade was my favorite for several reasons. One reason was that I did pretty well – that is, the second time around, anyway. I remember one day the teacher announced that she had a surprise for the most well-behaved student in her class. As soon as she said it, I knew I had a good chance at getting the prize. After all, I was a pretty quiet kid. I never got into trouble at all and I always followed instructions as well as I knew how. Anyway, she started walking around the classroom, teasing as she held the prize in front of us.  She walked from one table to the next. At each table she acted as though she would put the prize down, but she would pull it back. Slowly, she came toward my table. Several students sat around each of the round tables in our room. She slowly walked around our table as if she was playing some slow, twisted, agonizing game of duck, duck, goose. I sat as tall as I could in my chair, she came around beside me. I thought for sure she would place it in front of me, but she continued around behind me. As she went around me, I thought “well, at least I gave it my best shot.” But then, to my amazement, the prize seemed to magically float over my head and settle down softly on the table in front of me.  I was elated! I wanted to shout for joy and run around like a mad man (or child), but I kept my composure. The prize I so anxiously awaited was in my hands. It was a model race car. I don’t know what make it was, but it kinda looked like a modified Model T Ford without the front fenders. It was a drag racer. Wow! Awesome!