Learning Backwards

The Power of Life Experiences

I heard someone say something the other day and the truth of the statement took my breath away. "Life can only be understood backwards and yet it must be lived forwards."

Thanks to the power of the Internet, I've been making contact with more and more Cherry Road School Alumni. There are many commonalities in what they remember about those days. The most common denominator is how much Miss Parsons touched their lives in one way or another. One remembers conversations on the porch when he delivered her newspaper, another remembers personal tutoring because she was "not a good student," another how much she wanted to please her, and all remember Miss Parsons as a larger than life character in the story of their childhood.

Recently I met with someone who would have graduated from Cherry Road School around 1953. He said he received much more from the school than he ever gave back, and that he was unable to appreciate it at the time. He's thankful to have the opportunity now to give back if only by sharing his memories as a contribution to the book. I have to agree with Walt. If I had even five minutes with my Aunt Marion I'd thank her for all she did for me. I'd let her know that I've discovered in this work that she was that much to many others too. But since I can't do that, I'll have to thank her by completing the book that tells the story of the farm, the family, and the many futures that were touched. Fifty, sixty, even seventy years later, many understand what one person contributed so that we might flourish and remember our days in the brick building in the old Parsons' cherry orchard.