ghosts

Yesterday I dropped by my old grade school to pay my niece’s tuition. I hadn’t been there since the 80’s, and I was surprised to find that everything was exactly as I remembered it. The walls were still pale green and tile, the doors were still dark brown and peeling, and the floors still smelled like lemon.

My sister was with me and we traded stories as we toured the halls. “That’s the door you got your pinky stuck in.” “That’s the bathroom where you got in trouble for swearing.”

We walked by my old second grade classroom and my sister said, “Oh! Did you know Mrs. B. still works here?” At which point Mrs. B. herself looked up, saw me, and said, “Oh hi Jenny!” as if I had just come back from recess instead of 22 years away.

For a minute I was seven years old, and it was kind of beautiful.