[Sally and me at The White Hart Inn, Wimborne, Dorset. Date: June 7, 2023. Photo is mine]

This afternoon, Sally took time out of her life to make the trip to Wimborne and meet with me and Mariam. We talked of that year (Mostly I talked). And I finally had a chance to thank her for the help she and her friend gave me. They told me where my classes were. Where to keep my schedule card (I laminated it), and how to avoid certain administrators.

They sang “Born in the USA” to me one afternoon. They made a homesick 40-something terrified teacher feel quite at home. They took me under their wings and checked in with me when they saw that I was feeling low.

And, they giggled when I showed up on a Monday with a haircut.

Thank you, Sally, for being such a help to a lost and confused Yank trying to make sense of a complicated educational system in a foreign country.

I miss those days. I miss the friends I had made. But the only student who still talks to me is…Sally.

And to think, its only been 38 years…

[Sally (R) and friend on the last day of school. July, 1985. I’m in the middle. Photo is mine]

[Sally at work. 1984-85. Photo is mine}