The "One of My Favorite Memories" Story

It was an ordinary day. Just finished the summer printing for Manheim Township School District where I used to teach. During the summer my friend Mike and I do all the in-house printing for the district. Items such as hall passes, library passes, stationery, envelopes, etc. are printed on the two AB Dick offset presses that I had ordered years and years ago for my classroom when I taught graphics and photography. I have been doing the in-house printing in the summer since 1968 and Mike joined me in 1972. After I retired in 1999 from teaching the new teacher who tool over for me didn't want to be tied down in the summer so the school asked if I would continue with the printing. I'll tell you, when you walk in the print shop in the morning and smell the odor of ink in the room, it's like heaven. I know you think I'm nuts, but if you've ever had that experience you would know what I mean. Well, when I was ready to leave today I walked into the high school office to say good-bye to Dona, the secretary. Standing with her was the Head of Security for the school district and a recently retired Manheim Township municipal policeman. I said Hi to Dona and Doug and grabbed the box of items I had with me that had to be delivered to another school. Dona asked it it was for her and I showed her the box of excuse cards for one of the elementary schools. Doug looked at her and said, "You know I could give you a better deal than he does for this printing." She looked at him, then at me, and I had a smile on my face. Then he said, "I had LDub for printing when I went to school here, many years ago. I bet I could still do some of that stuff since he taught me so well." I said, "Maybe in a few years you can help Mike with the printing over the summer so I can officially retire." "What are you going to do with your name tag if you retire," he said. I looked at the ragged old tag that I'm required to wear when on the school premises and it brought back many memories. I actually had quite a bit of hair when it was taken. The big glasses and patterned shirt are extremely outdated. But, the tag has gone through years and years of service, both in the classroom and while doing the school printing. A good reminder of my time spent at one of my favorite places. Gonna be tough taking it off for the final time! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.