Today I attended the funeral of the legendary Parkview principal’s secretary, Trish Chrisman.
When you teach and work with people for any length of time, you form relationships with them that is difficult to describe. I saw many of these folks today. My heart grew wide in the wake of this reunion.
Trish was a formidable character. She reflected the personality of the principal she protected. As a baby teacher, she taught me a lot about how to behave. As I grew into my own, she became a friend to me. She would call my classroom and say, “Nancy, TRISH.” She always made me feel respected but I also feared her, as any good teacher reveres a principal’s secretary.
Today I stood among former colleagues and listened to Parkview’s bugle and drum corp, the Lassies, play in tribute to our beloved Trish. I wept many tears for my memories of being a Viking, and for Trish.
My Pops stopped by after I got home (as he does), and I recounted to him the experience of the funeral. Pops is a big funeral-goer: not just because he is of the age when he is losing pals, but because he shows up. He always has. He has taught me—by example—to show up. As I described the events of the day, he said, “you know me. I just melt.”
So my takeaway from this day, and my delivery to whomever visits my silly blog is this: show up. And cry if you need to. And never forget the people who were there when you were duking it out in the trenches. I remembered today. And I remembered Trish.
