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Fourth Grade

March 4, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner

GBE 2 – Blog on: Week 94 Writing Prompt: School Picture

4th Grade

Mrs. Mills was a southern lady with kind eyes, a love for teaching and an unhurried accent that made even a good scolding sound pleasant. She was just what my rambunctious fourth grade class needed.

Arranged in alphabetical rows, we learned cursive and long division, discovered that boys were smelly and girls could be fickle. Just beginning to glimpse the world beyond playground boundaries, we were innocent and carefree, soaking up history, science and life like kitchen sponges.

While Walter Cronkite spoke of Watergate, I perfected my advanced levels of jacksโ€”Around the World and Pigs in the Pen.

During harvest, a cotton trailer became my playground.

During harvest, I began counting down to Christmas.

Sunday mornings were spent at Brinkley Chapel, singing hymns and trying to concentrate on the message. I prayed for my dark soul and for bright, sun-shiny days. I prayed my stomach wouldn’t growl during the ‘every head bowed and every eye closed’ part.

I longed to be Marcia Brady but instead looked like Jan.
I was going to be a nurse and a wife and a mother.
I carry this picture to remember where I started. I carry this picture to remember who I am.

talya

Musical Pairing:

I Can See Clearly Now, Johnny Nash

Filed Under: Arkansas, Life Tagged With: Keiser

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Comments

  1. Gary Henderson says

    March 4, 2013 at 6:58 am

    OMG you totally look like Jan! ๐Ÿ™‚

    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      March 4, 2013 at 7:07 am

      I know! And then a couple of years later I got those horrible wire rim glasses just like she had…

  2. Staci Sandquist says

    March 4, 2013 at 4:00 pm

    Yes, you were the pretty one ๐Ÿ™‚

  3. drchoneydewcrm says

    March 4, 2013 at 4:17 pm

    i LOVE harvest times ๐Ÿ™‚ thank you for sharing the preciousness

  4. Joyce Lansky says

    March 4, 2013 at 8:38 pm

    I can tell this is you. Maybe Jan was really the pretty one instead of Marcia.

    http://joycelansky.blogspot.com/2013/03/school-pictures.html

    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      March 5, 2013 at 5:02 am

      you think? not in my mind:)

    • Susan Wallace says

      March 6, 2013 at 12:59 pm

      Jan wasn’t as shallow as Marcia , therefore far “prettier”

  5. Patricia A. Laster says

    March 5, 2013 at 4:54 am

    Fourth grade was fun. We moved up the hill to the Smith-Hughes Building that also served as the cafeteria. We played hospital behind it in the pine needles. It was during the war. Thanks for stoking MY memories.

    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      March 5, 2013 at 5:02 am

      ๐Ÿ™‚

  6. Anonymous says

    March 5, 2013 at 3:54 pm

    Love reading your memories! Glad you had Mrs. Mills in 4th grade! ๐Ÿ™‚

  7. Mary Hill says

    March 5, 2013 at 5:09 pm

    Hi, loved your blog too about James Parker last year. Really good memories. ๐Ÿ™‚

  8. TimH says

    March 5, 2013 at 9:11 pm

    Oh Marcia, Marcia, Marcia…haha…had absolutely nothing on Jan.=) And yes, in the sixth grade when I first saw you, I thought you were Jan’s twin…haha…which is a cool thing.

  9. Dorothy Latimer Johnson says

    March 6, 2013 at 10:01 am

    You were cuter than both Jan and Marcia!

  10. Paula Martin says

    March 6, 2013 at 11:44 am

    Great memories!

  11. Kathy says

    March 7, 2013 at 6:17 am

    Wonderful memories and great picture. You did resemble Jan a lot!

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com


Hi! I'm Talya Tate Boerner. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (2022)

THE THIRD ACT OF THEO GRUENE (coming 2025)

Recent Ramblings:

  • Sunday Letter: May 4, 2025
  • Sunday Letter: Rainy Day Edition
  • Spiderwort: my love-hate relationship
  • Sunday Letter: March 23, 2025
  • Sunday Letter: March 16, 2025

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