4th Grade

In the 4th Grade, I was, according to the other kids, "unlucky" enough to have Mrs. Rivette. Mrs. Rivette was the one teacher nobody wanted because she was mean. Or...supposedly she was mean. She was tall, but isn't everyone taller than you in the 4th Grade, when you're 8-9 years old?

I remember Mrs. Rivette's hair being a combination of light and dark grey (not salt and pepper), and it was always cut in a shape that looked like this |_|, only upside down, sort of like Lego people hair. She wore glasses on a chain around her neck and she had a slight mustache. That didn't gross me out, I thought it was weird, I mean my grandmother and mother didn't have one, but I was also taught that everyone is different and you NEVER EVER make fun of your elders, especially the elderly. Mrs. Rivette never, ever wore pants, she always wore a jumper. She had so many, so many different colors, so many differnt fabrics. And, in the summer time at the church bazaar, she was the "pocket lady". She wore a big smock with a bunch of differnt pockets sewn on it and for a dollar, you could reach into the pocket and pull out a prize. This was, of course, long before you heard of teachers touching children or having inappropriate relationships with them. When there was actually trust between a teacher and a child.

Mrs. Rivette loved the band, "The Motels" and always sang their songs. I knew of this band because I had an older cousin, but other than that, I had no idea why she liked this band.

4th Grade was the place where I learned one of the most important things in my life. No, lol, it wasn't about sports, I always kicked butt in Field Day, especially the ball throw. What I learned in the 4th Grade was manners. Specifically, to say "excuse me" whenever you walk in front of someone. And we practiced this in Mrs. Rivette's class daily.

When we lined up to go outside, to go to lunch, to go the auditorium and to go home, you had to say "excuse me" when you passed in front of Mrs. Rivette, or any adult or classmate, because it was rude not too. If you didn't say "excuse me", you had to go to the end of the line and try again. And Mrs. Rivette would make you do this over and over until you got it right.

And now, at 34 years old, to this day, I say "excuse me" whenever I walk in front of anyone and it's hard for me to not say that for others as well.

But then again, they didn't have Mrs. Rivette for the 4th Grade.