Evon and Rosa

A Friend

A friend I've known since 4th grade is Evon. She was my partner in crime at the Braille School. In the elementary grades they always split our class in two. Evon and I were NEVER together. Evon used to like watching cowboy westerns late at night on the weekends. I usually fell asleep halfway through. I always loved Evon's horse drawings. 

Once we split plastic glow balls in half and taped them on our eyes. Then we put Noxzema all over our faces. We thought it would be so cool to let the overnight housemother see us. Once in a while we would throw a ball down the center steps late at night. We thought it was so funny to run back to bed before getting caught. I bet that night housemother was glad to see us go back to our home schools. 

One summer Evon went with my family to Roy Lake in South Dakota. We took the boat out a little way by ourselves. I guess we weren't counting on catching a fish. I think we somehow got the fish off the hook by grabbing it with a washcloth. 

I still talk to Evon once in a while. She still makes me laugh.

Sue and Rosa

Sue and I had some fun times working in the computer lab together and spending time with my family outside of work. Once in the computer lab, Bruce missed his chair and plopped onto the floor. He quickly stood and with a straight face said, "I meant to do that." Sue and I cracked up. It struck us as so funny that I don't think we even asked if he was okay. 

Another time, we took the students on a field trip to the KCRG weather lab. At a stop light, I turned around in my seat to see a student in his wheelchair tilted sideways. Apparently something came undone, but he never said a word to let us know. There was nothing we could do until we stopped, so of course Sue and I cracked up. 

On a field trip, we let Greg drink a bunch of Mountain Dew at Happy Joe's Pizza. He bounced around in the back all the way back to campus. One day I gave Jesse a list of Braille contractions. In Microsoft Word, he was supposed to use each word in a complete sentence. He came to the word "upon" on his list. He sat there for a few minute and finally said, "Sue Bonar is up upon the hill." I guess it had been a long day because it seemed hilarious at the time. We all laughed and laughed. 

One year I was assigned an intinerent teacher gig in Grinnell. Sue was my assistant and driver. We had a slightly frightening incident at some railroad tracks. One day we pulled into the junior high to find an empty parking lot. No one told me there was no school that day. On a terrible winter day we bucked snowdrifts on 218 on the way home. When I didn't show up for work the day Sadie was born, Sue took over for me. We had some fun times. 

Sue and I planned a trip to Cedar Rapids for picture taking of my kids. Steve was supposed to be in his room getting ready for the excursion. Somehow he tangled himself, his bedspread, and his pants with a fishing line and hook. We ended up calling Della to get him out of that one. Then Sue took us for picture taking. Steve's picture that year was taken with a fishing rod. When we got home, we discovered Kitty was stuck up in our garage rafters. We had the good idea of holding a large piece of plywood up as a ramp to allow Kitty to come on down. Sue helped out with this task. Scratch! Meow! That didn't work out too well. What a day!

The Kicker

 Around 4th grade, Dave teased me by saying we would get married someday. I kicked him and ran. I remember watching Dave and his class leave for their senior trip to Hawaii. During my year in Utah Dave called me every Friday night. The rest is history. 

Mr. Carter's Classroom

 Since Dave is older than me, I have few memories of him at the Braille School. I do remember he was a helper with my art class. My class was a handful, so I'm sure Mr. Carter took any assistance he could get. I remember poking my finger with some sort of chisel and then running to the sink. This was after Mr. Carter instructed me to be careful. One day a student basically shampooed her hair with red paint. She sometimes climbed up to a high shelf and squeezed to the back. Dave had to struggle to get her down. Mr. Carter never seemed to be able to control us. Yeah, we teased him a lot cause we got him on the spot. Mr. Carter wasn't at the Braille School for too long. Tune in next week for a real kicker.   

Ruth Ann and Her Brother

When I was in the elementary grades at the Braille School, thecheerleaders put on elaborate pep rallies. I was asked to play Ruth Ann in a skit. Some one put ponytails in my hair and a lot of red lipstick on my face. I wore a little red cheerleading skirt and a white blouse. I sat in a big wooden rocking chair facing the bleachers. "Hi, my name is Wuth Ann. I am FIVE years old. See!" I counted out my fingers for the crowd. "I'm wearing some of my mommy's lipstick today. See!" I puckered up to show my beautiful lips to the audience. "My big bwuther is on the Wams westling team." I turned around and wave to my big brother. I shouted, "Hi bwuther!" Dave played the big brother who waved back at me. "Go Wams!"

Trip to Seattle

In the spring of my 8th grade year, I attended the United States Association for Blind Athletes (USABA) national meet in Seattle. I was the only girl on the trip. When we arrived at the hotel, a lady read the room assignments. I was assigned a room with Robert. Seriously? Of course that didn't happen, but everyone had a laugh about it. 

We did so many fun things on that trip including sailing, skiing, a boat ride, eating seafood, and visiting the Space Needle. I remember being on a skilift with Chuck. I commented that I wished my mom was there because she loved mountains. Chuck giggled like crazy, but wouldn't let me in on the joke. The day was so warm we had spring jackets on while skiing. Another time on a ski lift, whoever I was with got off on time. I did not. They had to back the whole thing up so I could get off. 

Later, I was so shocked when I turned around to find my parents there. What an awesome surprise! I was proud and happy to have my mom and dad in Seattle with me. I have a picture of me running on the track during that meet. No one was behind me. No, I wasn't that far ahead. I did better the next year. The weather was sunny and warm the whole week. Anyway, that Seattle trip was a highlight of those days for me.

Snowy Days

More snow today. Yuck! As a kid at the Braille School, winters were fun. I remember a snowmobile ride in the back 40 with Mr. Wilberg and making snowmen (and women) in front of Palmer Hall.

We played cards with Miss Neuzil inside to keep busy and had many snowball fights outside. 

We thought we were so cool bringing snowballs into the Industrial Arts classroom. I probably got stuck in the garbage can upside-down for that one or maybe tossed in a snowbank. We spent hours sledding down the hills behind the Old Hospital. Good thing there was little traffic on 9th street! 

We spent many weekend afternoons playing hide-and-seek with the entire gym building as our space. 

I love hearing the story about Mr. Farmer spotting students coming to his house. He got on the roof, collected snowballs, and gave them a surprise. What a blast! 

To any Braille School staff reading this who were involved, thanks for taking the time to have fun with us.