{"id":1043,"date":"2015-06-20T14:17:04","date_gmt":"2015-06-20T14:17:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stashreport.com\/?p=1043"},"modified":"2015-06-20T14:17:04","modified_gmt":"2015-06-20T14:17:04","slug":"lynells-retirement-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stashreport.com\/?p=1043","title":{"rendered":"Lynell’s Retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hi Friends… It’s been a long while<\/strong> since I last posted any of my offerings. Nothing has bubbled out of my brain lately… what can I say? <\/p>\n

And then… one day… a good buddy, Fred Burgos, called and asked me to produce a poem to commemorate his wife and my close friend, Lynell’s, retirement from the teaching profession. There was to be a gala party in about a week. Upon receipt of this request, I went absolutely blank. There was a moment that I almost called Fred with a sad and defeated admission that, “Sorry Fred, I ain’t got nothing.” <\/p>\n

I’ve known Lynell for many years and just why my brain went dormant is unexplainable. I started jotting down a few remembrances, came up with a beginning and an end and the poem really took off. It seemed that my thoughts came together and really started to flow, as my assignment began to write itself. My best poems seem to do this. Things just click. With lots of polishing and word substitution, what follows is the from the heart result. There are names and specific situations that might not make a lot of sense to you but I think the warm sentiment comes across strongly. Stash<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The Story of Lynell Burgos*<\/strong>
\n* This poem is based on fact but if truth be known\u2026 I made a lot of this stuff up.<\/p>\n

Once upon a time, there was a little girl,
\nWho grew up in a Patterson world.
\nWhile her best friends played with dolls
\nOr went swimming at the beach,
\nLynell always said\u2026 \u201cI just wanna teach!\u201d<\/p>\n

This ambitious young lady eventually grew up.<\/p>\n

Lynell loved her mom, Pat and siblings Rick and Dar\u2026
\nBut as soon as she could, she took her car\u2026
\nBidding a fond farewell
\nTo her warm Polish\/Italian \u201chome-a\u201d *\u2026 (*said with a heavy Italian accent)
\nShe went to secure a teaching diploma. <\/p>\n

(*Author\u2019s note: Sorry for the bad rhyme but hey, what rhymes with diploma?)<\/p>\n

To continue\u2026Eureka! Our girl snagged herself a job!<\/p>\n

Working in Patterson was a dream come true\u2026
\nAnd it was clear to everyone she knew
\nThat the art of teaching children
\nWas something that was meant to be,\u2026
\nWritten in the stars\u2026 it was her destiny.<\/p>\n

Yep, teaching was her joy but then\u2026 she met a boy.<\/p>\n

Most folks know the fellow about whom I\u2019m speakin\u2019\u2026
\nHe\u2019s Freddie Burgos, a handsome Puerto Rican.
\nWell, you know how things sometimes happen\u2026
\nFirst came love and then came marriage\u2026
\nThen came Lynell pushing a baby carriage.<\/p>\n

They had three beautiful, energetic daughters\u2026
\nFirst Danielle and then the twins, Rachie and Melissa\u2026
\nTime out from teaching\u2026 for a while\u2026 and then\u2026<\/p>\n

Back to the classroom but now in the Hub City,
\nWhere classes were lively and kids could be gritty,
\nShe taught children of all ages\u2026
\nFrom the pee-wee little fidgety tykes
\nTo kids entering puberty\u2026 yowie\u2026 yikes!<\/p>\n

Lynell has taught in New Brunswick for sixty-three years
\nDuring which time there\u2019s been both laughter and tears.
\n(This might be an exaggeration but sometimes it sure felt that long.)
\nDuring her tenure there were wins and losses
\nAnd God All Mighty, there were all those bosses!<\/p>\n

Years of Ron Larkin, Penny Lattimer and Richie Kaplan\u2026
\nAll Christmas presents but without shiny wrappin\u2019.
\n(Folks with their feet on the ground but with their heads\u2026 in the clouds.)
\nAdministrators with all the charm they could muster\u2026
\nUsually plenty of hot air and lots of boss bluster.<\/p>\n

Then there were the principals\u2026<\/p>\n

Bernie Stark, Bob Boyler and Ed Chobrda\u2026
\nPerhaps these are names that you\u2019ve never heard of.
\n(Lynell\u2019s a gal, who\u2019s been around.)
\nKathy Antoine-Smith and Vikki Abdus-Salaam.
\nThey\u2019re still here but Lynell\u2019s soon gonna be gone.<\/p>\n

But these weren’t the only ones, who came waltzing into her room.<\/p>\n

Barbara Oxfeld, Rachel Bethea and Lilian Gray\u2026
\nThey always had very interesting things to say.
\nThe State Inquisitors visited regularly\u2026
\nAs did the starry-eyed child study teams,
\nWith 504 plans that sprang from their dreams. <\/p>\n

Time\u2019s running short and there\u2019s plenty I\u2019ve not mentioned to you\u2026
\nThe Three Amigos, \u201cWatergate break-ins\u201d and the silly things we\u2019d do
\nBut you wouldn\u2019t understand these things anyway\u2026
\nThe fashion police, studying the red binders, getting her Masters\u2026.
\nBake sales, fund raisers and class trip disasters.<\/p>\n

But enough of this nostalgia\u2026
\nLynell, you\u2019re gonna beat Christie to the punch\u2026
\nYou\u2019re retiring!<\/p>\n

Time to exit and grab the \u201cgolden parachute\u201d.
\nNo more lesson plans, observations\u2026 no morning commute.
\nEvery night will be Friday night, every morning, Saturday morning.
\nA lady of leisure, you can Zumba every day\u2026
\nSleep late and wake only when it\u2019s time to play.<\/p>\n

(Sigh)
\nGoodbyes are always bittersweet but remember this\u2026<\/p>\n

During your years in the classroom, you\u2019ve impacted many lives.
\nLike a gardener, your students have grown strong and thrived.
\nYou\u2019ve built bridges with students, parents and colleagues\u2026
\nSo, it\u2019s important to remember that retirement is not an end\u2026
\nBecause\u2026 each person you\u2019ve touched will be forever a friend.<\/p>\n

Congratulations Lynell, ya made it! Welcome to the club. <\/p>\n

Stash<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi Friends… It’s been a long while since I last posted any of my offerings. Nothing has bubbled out of my brain lately… what can I say? And then… one day… a good buddy, Fred Burgos, called and asked me … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stashreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stashreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stashreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stashreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stashreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1043"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/stashreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1049,"href":"https:\/\/stashreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1043\/revisions\/1049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stashreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stashreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stashreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}