The Last Act of Defiance

Mom wants a 5th grade story. This may be a bad decision on her part.

Have you ever seen the cartoon where the bird of prey is attacking a mouse? It's talons are sharp, extended, and ready. It's swooping down at full speed, and the mouse has no chance whatsoever at survival. The mouse is calmly standing there flipping the bird (somewhat literally in this case). The point is that the mouse knew he was done for either way, so he might as well get in his last shot.

Sometimes when you're a kid, you feel like a mouse being attacked by a very large bird.

Sometimes when you're a kid, you get suspended -- and when you're 38, you won't even remember why you got suspended "that" time. You may have to go get your coat from class as part of your "walk of shame" after being suspended. You may even call your teacher the "B" word as loud as you can while you're grabbing your coat. My last act of defiance! (That day)

I remember the conversation I had with my dad that night:

"Sean, do you know what that word means?"
"No" (I know that it means she's really mean, that people don't like to be called it and that it's going to get me some attention when I return to school.)
"Well, it's a word that means female dog. Do you think that Mrs. Carl is a female dog?"
"No" (Heck yes, I do. She totally deserved it and now I can tell my friends what it means!)
"Do you think you should apologize?"
"Yes" (No!)

Now, Mrs. Carl retired from the Air Force which means a couple of things to me:

• She probably had to be a "B" word from time to time just to get by
• She was most likely pretty cool, and surely had some great experiences that I would have liked to have heard

I believe that she's passed on, but I would like to say that I'm sorry. For reals this time.

Soccer is cool!