School Days

Back to school! It's that season, isn't it? Families move in to new routines scattered and morphed throughout the summer. No more going barefoot through the grass. The bus picking up our neighborhood kids growls to a stop and the dogs - a block away - bark at this new intrusion. They'll adapt and so will the kids and their parents and all the rest of us who must now really watch our speed in the school zones and return to putting our shoes on instead of running barefoot through the grass.

I'm going back to school too this fall. I've been working on what to say to the assembly gathering before the pep rally at my alma mater in Mondovi, Wisconsin. I'm being inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame and I suspect if those kids are as I was as a teenager, the last thing on my mind at an assembly would be to hear from someone who graduated nearly fifty years ago. So I'm working on a story; they might remember a story.

I also just ordered a new pair of shoes, something for "the occasion."

Meanwhile, a former classmate sent three school pictures of me and two of my older sister.  I think the handwriting is mine...it looks pretty primitive. Jane is easy enough to spell but Rutschow my maiden name, took some work. I look into the face of that child and am amazed that I can remember being that second grader in the Naples school, a two room rural school out in the country. There'd been community meetings about consolidating little one room schools and bussing kids into new neighborhoods and my parents backed the consolidation, seeing it as progress, even though the one room school was but a quarter mile from their farm and most of their neighbors didn't want the change.

None of that divisiveness shows on my face though I do remember asking my parents why the neighbors didn't wave at us when we met them on the road. They said something like "people disagree but that's the American way" or "we were on opposite sides of an important question." They never condemned the neighbors nor suggested that I couldn't still wave at them whenever I wanted to. I'm grateful for that. It spoke of being able to disagree with civility, another hallmark of the American Way.

When I look at my picture, I see bad perms and eyes that didn't yet need glasses. I see hopefulness and confidence in the teachers who encouraged and told me that the world was open to me for whatever road I chanced to take. I see a child who loved Sunday School as much as grammar school and who even at that age searched for my place in the world.

I also remember not always feeling that hopeful or that safe as those pictures suggest. When an older sister stood in the gap for me on the playground; when the compassion of a teacher helped me maneuver through the obstacles of social ineptness or grieve the vagaries of uncertainties like girls who one day were my friends and the next day, weren't.  I didn't feel hopeful on a day when a trusted family friend turned out to be not so trustworthy and I had only the prayer of help! to see me through. My eyes in these pictures might reveal a bit of that pain but I prefer instead to see the kindnesses I experienced growing up.

When I graduated from Mondovi High School, I was given the privilege of making the honor student address at our commencement. Our theme was taken from Emerson: "As I Am, So I See."  I remember that quote not just because of the speech I wrote relating to it but because it reflects the person I hope I am. Many of my readers today are homeschoolers and I admire their grit and determination to blend their faith life with their children's choices in the world. I suspect I would have enjoyed that level of personal commitment by my parents. But I am grateful too for what that my public school experiences gave me not the least of which is requiring me to negotiate and daily walk beside those who didn't always see the world the way I did. That negotiation shaped my vision.

Friends have often called me an eternal optimist or suggest that naive is painted on my forehead. (My brother once told me to forget getting back a leather jacket I left behind in the airport in Minneapolis; that no one would turn it in; but they did!) I'm okay with those designations. I'll wave at people who disagree with me as my parents did; I'll seek help when I'm feeling lost or alone; and I'll look to the teachers I find as readers, editors, colleagues, pastors, friends, relatives and even those I disagree with to open me still to see this wonderful world. 

"Earth is crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God," wrote Elizabeth Barrett Browning. "But only he who sees takes off his shoes." These pictures of me all those years ago remind me of a time when I daily took off my shoes and of the need as an adult to go barefoot  more often.

Take a look and see where our paths might cross during upcoming events. 

SEPTEMBER

WHEN: Friday, September 28, afternoon and evening
WHERE: Mondovi High School, Mondovi, Wisconsin
WHAT: Induction into Mondovi High School Alumni Hall of Fame. 

WHEN: Saturday, September 29, 1:30 p.m.

WHERE: Mondovi Public Library, 146 W. Hudson St., Mondovi, Wisconsin (715) 926-4403
WHAT: The Friends of the Mondovi Public Library will welcome Jane for a presentation. Join her as she tells stories and remembers the goodness of small towns and public libraries and their contribution to the writing life. She'll also talk about The Midwife's Legacy (June, Barbour Publishing). Jane's novella called "A Mother's Cry" opens the collection and is set in Mondovi!

OCTOBER

WHEN: Thursday, October 4, 7:00 p.m.
WHERE: Broadway Books, 1714 N.E. Broadway, Portland, Oregon
WHAT: Jane will be joined by seven other authors including Phillip Margolin as part of the Crazy 8's Author Tour where a group of Oregon writers will celebrate the written word throughout the state. For the full list of authors and more information visit http://crazy8sauthortour.com. (Jane will also be at Graham's Books & Stationery in Lake Oswego on November 15 as part of the same tour!)

WHEN: Friday, October 5
WHERE: Willamette University, Salem, Oregon
WHAT: Celebration of the anniversary of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, filmed at the Oregon State Hospital. Details to follow. Jane will be in the audience at this event with a panel of film makers, screenwriters and actors sharing stories of the role of art in increasing public awareness and care for the human condition. Mark your calendars!

WHEN: Saturday, October 6, 11:00 a.m.
WHERE: Oregon State Hospital Museum, Salem, Oregon
WHAT: A dedication of the new museum and bronze bust of Dorothea Dix created by John Sherrill Houser Art Studio of Santa Fe, NM. Jane will speak about the role of Dorothea Dix (the subject of her book, One Glorious Ambition) who was an early reformer on behalf of the mentally ill, not only in the United States but in Europe as well.

WHEN: Thursday, October 11, 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Olympia Timberland Library, 313 8th Ave. SE, Olympia, Washington
WHAT: Join Jane as she shares stories of remarkable Northwest women and men, and what it is that makes novels based on real people so intriguing, encouraging each of us to write our own family stories. The event is open to the public; for more information visit www.trl.org.

WHEN: October 19, 20, 21
WHERE: Albuquerque, New Mexico
WHAT: Women Writing the West Conference. Jane will be moderating an agent panel and introducing the Laura dinner keynote speaker, Susan J. Tweit, on Friday evening. She also plans to celebrate at the WILLA banquet and luncheons, cheering for all the winners and finalists. And enjoying New Mexico!

WHEN: Sunday, October 28, 11:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
WHERE: St. Paul Fire District, St. Paul, Oregon
WHAT: St. Paul Mission Historical Society Annual Meeting. This historical society set in the heart of French Prairie was instrumental in Jane's research for the Tender Ties series about Marie Dorion, the only woman who was part of the Astor expedition in 1811. The society published eleven volumes of the Catholic Church records that had been translated from French to English by Harriet Munnick in the 1970's. That effort and commitment to history has opened many doors for researchers and genealogists. Jane will speak at the annual meeting about Marie Dorion and about the importance of history to our contemporary lives. She'll also sign your books!

For all event information and updates, please visit Jane's website and click on News and Events. Thanks!