booty banquet

She had asked me before "So, why aren't you majoring in English...?" And she clearly meant that as like. A compliment. Because she saw enough of herself in me. And I am kind of ridiculously well-read in that period for a complete laywoman. It's not every day you meet a substitute teacher with an associate degree who has read the complete plays of Shakespeare. But I had explained to her I wasn't in school anymore. And basically brushed it off as... "Life." And she was like "Well... If that ever changes. I'll mentor your Master's."

And after I suddenly became homeless in January, some of my coworkers knew what happened, and some people I had talked to on a regular basis, like Dr. W, just had no idea. Because it was like I disappeared for a long stretch of time. No, it wasn't like that. It was that. I hadn't caught up with Dr. W till a few weeks ago (I started going back to sub very occasionally in late March/early April). She asked "Where have you been? I feel like I haven't seen you much lately." So I told her why. And she was like... Wooooooow. Not the first time I had had that conversation since going back to work. And not a conversation I love having, but I don't hate it either. People have been very kind to me since, including and especially people I work with.

But yeah, I told Dr. W that I was going back to school to finish my Bachelor's and she said "English?" And I said "Yes," and she said "Good." Very much like she meant it. "You're gonna kill that degree." And I said "I'll really miss it here though," and she said "Will I still see you around?" And I was like "Yeah, I'll finish up the school year but then I'll be gone."

I didn't think much of that last part of the conversation. But yesterday I was covering a large study hall in the cafeteria, and I guess that was during Dr. W's hall duty. She saw me as she walked by and ran in and said she had some books for me. And she did. So I went back to her classroom, and she gave me literally hundreds of dollars worth of English literature books that she thought I could use for my degree. And she also knows that I lost almost my entire book collection, too. She said "I don't really have a use for these now that I'm not in academia. My kids are big readers, but they're not really into this kind of stuff." Several of them were materials she had been given for free when she was a professor. Some stuff still in the cellophane. A lot of Norton Anthologies, and I love a good Norton. I was just so touched. I'm really gonna have to send her such a special thank you card.

I can't believe how kind people are sometimes, but I'm also not surprised that she was so happy to do it. Finding someone to talk about Renaissance literature with is like finding someone to do drugs with. But harder. I know I love the feeling of giving people books they'll really enjoy and devour, and she knew I would, for certain.

Anyway I actually don't have the complete set because she forgot to throw in the tragedies, but one of the best things she gave me was a multi volume Norton Complete Works of Shakespeare. It means so much to me, because all of my Shakespeare collection was destroyed. I got back the physical copy of my Riverside Shakespeare which my grandmother gave me, and which I read most of the plays in for the first time. But it is not really readable. I have it purely for sentimental value. It's very bittersweet. She said she'd get the tragedies to me later on. She wasn't at work today and it was my last day, but we have mutual contacts and I have faith she'll get it to me.