The "So This Is What I Used To Look Like" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Looking for just about anything interesting to write about when I came across a special photograph.  I say special since it happens to be a photograph of myself in the Manheim Township High School cafeteria.  

My guess is that it is from the mid to late 1990s.  I retired from teaching in 1999, but did stay for another 10 or so more years working on the in-house printing needs of the school district.  I worked primarily in the summer months when there were no students in the building.   My co-worker was Mike Zell who still collects a paycheck since he is involved as a coach with the sports program at Manheim Township High School.  I suspect that I was in my 50s in this photograph.  The location is in the cafeteria that was a hop, skip and jump from the classroom in which I taught for many, many years.  Good old room 308!  I have my favorite apron on as I walk through the cafeteria carrying something to eat.  If you look close enough you can see ink smeared on the bottom part of my gray apron.  Always had an apron on during the days when my classes had plans to run the printing presses, since someone always made a mistake while running the presses and I had to help remove paper that jammed the press and stopped it from operating.  When I found the photo the other day, I was amazed at the amount of dark stuff I had on my head.  I haven't seen myself with that much hair for years.  Today I can go a few weeks without having to shave what little bit of hair I still get on my head.  If I don't shave it all from my head every so often, it looks awful.  I also noticed my wire-rimmed glasses which I have on my head.  I haven't worn glasses for close to 6 years now, since I had a former student of mine, Dr. Ted Jones, operate on my eyes and fix it so I no longer need glasses.  I have great long distance vision through my left eye and good short distance vision through my right eye.  Through a simple operation, Dr. Jones saved me from having to wear glasses the rest of my life.  I can never thank him enough for what he did for me.  I only hope I gave him an "A" when I had him as a student!  Though I may have better vision now, I no longer look as young as I did in this photograph.  Time goes on and I tend to look older with every photograph that someone takes of me.  But, at least I can still type well enough to write my daily stories and still take photos with my 35mm camera to illustrate some of my stories.  I will never forget all the good times I had teaching Graphic Arts and Photography at good old Manheim Township High School where I taught for over 35 years as well as being a student in the Manheim Township School District for 12 years.  I spent the majority of my life learning and teaching in the Manheim Township School District.  They treated me well and I hope I did the same for them.  I have a lifetime of good memories that I still share with just about anyone who is willing to read or listen to them.  One favorite story I tell is when the rifle team I coached won the State Championship.  My team was the Lancaster Newspaper's team of the year.  Something I will never forget.  If you want to read about the rifle team, just type "rifle team" in the little white box on the top left side of my story and you will be directed to that story or in some cases stories.  Well, "Thank you" for reading my story today.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.