Time cannot erase my memories, just my ability to recount them

I have been deprived of my eloquence and I am ill at ease with myself. Once upon a time, I was filled with confidence and could easily converse with others. No more. Now, I cling to the maxim that well-timed silence is more eloquent than articulation.

I see a bad moon arising when my inability to converse will be spotlighted.

I am very honoured to have been invited to a high school reunion. Not my high school, but one that my junior high and elementary students attended, once they left me.

In my second year of teaching, I taught a wildly enthusiastic grade 6 class. What a year! We made 2 movies, captured creatures in the summer ditches and........ just generally enjoyed each other. I spent 7 years in that school and each year was a repeat of that first year. That was 4 decades ago and to have them remember me now.....well, that is truly an honour.

I have looked at the facebooks of each former student and I am shocked at the adult faces looking back at me. And they have children too!!! I have to face it, I am an old man. I don't recognize most of those adult faces. I remember them as young teenagers, not as grown-ups. As Dr. Seuss said, "When did it get so late so soon?"

Now, about that bad moon.

PD has robbed me of my ability to communicate. I talk only to family and close friends and even then I stumble over my words. I am hoping I won't have a vicious attack at the reunion. I want to remain in the high esteem of my former students.

PD has set me up for a semi-solitary life:

• my voice makes it hard for people to hear me.
• people have difficulty understanding me, particularly if the setting is noisy
• the clarity of of my voice is dubious
• people ask me to repeat myself because I am speaking too softly
• I am burdened with a word finding problem when I speak.

Funny how that works! I can't find the words when I speak, but they flow easily when I write. I guess you can't have every thing. I am so looking forward to this reunion. Wish me luck.

“How did it get so late so soon?
It's night before it's afternoon.
December is here before it's June.
My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon?”

― Dr. Seuss

Silence - the whiner has left the desktop.