“Heavenly shades of night are falling,
it’s twilight time . . .”
– The Platters (1958)
Me: “Hey, wifey! You’ve gotta come out and join me on the backyard swing. The view across the (Shenandoah) mountain range is spectacular, but it won’t last long. I know you’re busy, but this is too good to miss.”
Anna floats across the yard, giving me her “teacher eye” look and nestles up next to her starry-eyed admirer.
“You’re right – the view is gorgeous,” she says. “Can I go back inside now? I’ve got to finish my lesson plans.”
It’s a Currier & Ives moment in the still of the night, as The Five Satins’ quintessential doo-wop song replays in the jukebox of my mind. If the tune were to somehow emanate from some celestial loudspeaker in the evening sky, I’d ask Anna if I could have this dance for the rest of my life.
“So,” I say with a tinge of solemnity in my voice after a period of semi-silence punctuated by a cricket chorus and traffic noise from Rt. 33. “How does this first week of teaching compare to the first week last year when you went to a brand-new school (Cub Run Elementary)?”
“I’m definitely feeling more relaxed because it’s a more familiar place,” states Miz Beeshop. “I know more people, have a great kindergarten teaching team and it feels like going home.”
My follow-up question: “So, how does it feel knowing that you’re coming down the home stretch after 27 years of teaching?”
“Hmmmm,” she pauses. “Emotionally, I’m not ready to give it up. Teaching is a lot of who I am and I get much joy from it. But, I tire a lot more easily these days.”
Which leads directly into my next query: “Whether we quite fathom it or not, we’re senior citizens,” the surreal sunset fading to the west not lost on this observer. “What occupies your mind a lot at this stage of life?”
With little pause, she replies, “I think a lot about retirement and how we’ll manage if and when both of us leave the workforce. But even more, I realize how blessed I am – my job, good health and my relationships with family and beyond. I reflect often on God and His plan for us in our senior years.”
I’m on a roll, I think to myself. Anna is probably wondering why this guy who doesn’t like to discuss the day’s events at the supper table is suddenly probing the deepest realm of her psyche without using “special interrogation techniques.”
“Can you believe we’ve been married some 42 years and have known each other since our sophomore year of college in 1964?” I say to this amazing woman. “How have you changed the most since we first said ‘Indubitably, I do,’ at the altar?”
“Unquestionably, I’ve slowly moved from having an inferiority complex to becoming more outgoing, assertive and self-confident,” she states.
Me: “Hey, do I hear the phone ringing?”
Anna: “No, it’s just the ringing in your ears. It goes along with your incessant snoring.”
Me: “I beg your pardon… I don’t snore . . ever.”
Anna: “No further comment.”
Mrs. Bishop is trying to slip off the swing. One last gentle prod: “So, what do you want to accomplish yet before 2009 is over?”
“I want to get back into a regular exercise regimen, something I’ve let slide the last while,” she declares.
“You know, you weren’t going to stay here but for a moment,” I remind my swing companion. “Don’t you want to get back to your schoolwork?”
“Not anymore,” Anna replies. “I’m going to go play several games of ‘Solitaire’ on the computer – see if I can raise that 13% win percentage.”
“Mind if I shuffle in and watch?” I ask.
“No big deal,” says she.
“I’m game,” says the joker, shuffling along behind the queen.
Good Menno night.
– Column by Jim Bishop
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