"A Trip To Durham"

Last weekend my wife and I made a trip to Durham, North Carolina to visit our son JJ and our daughter in law Angela. The other reason for our trip was for me to speak to a variety of classes at the Cresset School where Angela teaches. She had set up a schedule that would have killed a lesser man, but hardy soul that I am she and I knew I could handle it.

We left for Durham around 3:30 on Thursday afternoon. It was raining, and it continued to rain the entire length of our trip. At one point the announcer on the radio said something like "as long as you can hear my voice you are in an area where there is a tornado watch until two in the morning." All I could think of was that I sure would be happy when I could no longer hear his voice.

The trip to Durham took forever. I tried to drive cautiously but I also wanted to drive with some speed. My wife thinks fifty-five is speeding when it is raining. I kept praying she would go to sleep, but she kept waking up and saying, "Slow this car down!" It was a nightmare and it seemed to last forever.

We did get into Durham around one in the morning, and it was close to two when we3 got to bed. In the blink of an eye it was six o'clock and we had to get up and get breakfast, then head for Angela's school. Bleary-eyed but intent on being interesting, I pasted a smile on my face and faced the day.

The first class I spoke to was Angela's third grade class. Each and every one of her students was adorable and I soon got caught up in their enthusiasm as I described my writing process and how all four of my books came to be. These children listened to every word and asked very intelligent questions.

One of the little girls in the class was named Imane. In my book HALFWAY HOME I wrote a story about a three-year-old girl I met on a flight to Los Angeles named Emani. The two names were close enough and the class listened spellbound as I read them the story of my meeting with Emani.

Later in the day I was talking with another class and there was an Imane in that group too. Once again I read "her story" to a rapt audience. Prior to meeting Emani on the plane trip I had never known anyone with that name. Now in Durham I met two children with a similar name to hers. It must be becoming a popular name, and it is beautiful.

All day as I was introduced to the different classes I would have the students tell me their names. God was surely with me as I seemed to have this amazing ability of total recall and could call each one by his/her name even later in the day when I would see them in the halls of the school.

Cresset was a great experience for me. I talked with kids in grades ranging from first to eleventh, and in each group; I found the students to be interesting and interested. I was tired when the school day ended at three that afternoon but it was a good kind of tired.

A few days later I was back home in Perry, Georgia. The day we drove home the sun was shining and the traffic was light. It was a good day, and a good way to end a good trip. I have talked to my kids since we got back and they say the Cresset talks were a success. I hope so. Maybe there is a future author in their ranks, and maybe I helped spur his or her career along.
 

 

 

 

 

©2007 Jackie K. Cooper

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