Missing Alice, Charlie, and Annie

It's the time of year where I have some flex in my schedule and, having graded all day, I went onto Facebook and tried to catch up with Alice Stevenson's incredible catalogue of photographs she's recorded all these years. While in southern Indiana I used to say to Charlie, "Has she always been this way?" and he grunted, "yep. the camera is always in your face." She documented everything. Since she's been at the Brown School, she has captured the essence of almost everything the school has to offer.

Last night, I went on to see the photos taken in my last years of Brown (2007) but the majority of the photographs chronicle the time since I've left there --- class of 2008 until this year's 2013. That is amazing to me. It made me realize I missed Annie's wedding and wasn't there for the birth of Peyton, either, and that time really DOES go on. I am happy to see the Brown School remains the Brown School and Alice is capturing it all as she always has.

That is the power of Alice's vision...one that carries forward the magic that we once knew together.

As I peruse the years at the school I've missed and try to find the meaning of a post-Brown life (which isn't easy), I realize that the story of the school carries on and it is THAT STORY that I believe in most. It's hard to believe that utopia can exist in education, but that is what I had while in room 301 and working with Alice Stevenson. Neighbor. Friend. Colleague. Intellect. She made so much of my Kentucky experience what it was and, last night, I found myself really missing her and the world we co-created for so long. I miss Charlie, too, and our Friday's at the Rover. It's nice to have friends that just "get it."

And that is why I think I am in need of Harold & Maude. I need to be redirected and reminded of the purpose why we worked as we did while we could...together.

Yes, Alice. I'm not good at multiple choice tests, but in the end I'd always choose you. You were right 9 times out of 10 and I appreciate you for this.