I Can’t Say Rose

When I read a children’s picture book Hooway for Wodney Wat by Helen Lester, it  reminded me of my own story.  My sister Ruby remembers that day, but I don’t. So, in order to tell my story, I must rely on her memory.

The McKinnon School in Wyoming was a four-room schoolhouse. First, second and third grades were all in the same classroom. I was one of the four first-grade students.  My sister Ruby was one of the eleven second grade students, and there were four third grade students.

My teacher had me stand in front of all eighteen students in the room. “Say Rose,” she said.

“Wose.”

“No, say Rose.”

“Wose.”

“Again,” she said. “Say Rose.”

I was getting more and more frustrated. I stamped my foot and said, “Quit trying to make me say Rose when you know I can’t say it!”

I found two life lessons in this story. 

We remember the things that are important to us. Different people in the same situation remember different things.

Sometimes I worry about the things I cannot do and I continue to repeat the same actions over and over with little or no success. But when I simply decide to do the thing that seems impossible to me, then I surprise myself  There is a magnet on my refrigerator door—Sometimes it’s fun to do the impossible. 

And that says it all.

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