Thirty years ago I was in Hawaii with my Granny.  We had such a good time.    We stayed at the Sheraton Waikiki and had a balcony looking at the ocean and Diamond Head to the left.  It was amazing.  I rented a car and drove around the island on my own.  Granny would not go with me.

The things that stand out the most about this trip was a visit to the USS Arizona Memorial and Pearl Harbor, a sun tan than lasted two years, seeing the Don Ho Show, and seeing Bruno Mars impersonate Elvis in the lounge at our hotel.  Thank you, Granny.  It was a blast.

May.

I graduated from high school in May.  That was a long time ago.  My grandparents came up from Shreveport to witness it just to make sure it was true.  It was.

Tom and Gleda Brown were there.  My second parents.  How I miss them.

The last high school graduation I enjoyed was that of my sister, Lynn, who graduated from North Harrison High School two years before I did.  We had a great celebration then.

As a member of leadership for my graduating class, I was called to a meeting to decide the placement or replacement of the chair of a classmate who died in a car crash three days before graduation.  The older I get, the worse this gets for me.  I have made this speech so many times.  When the calendar turns to May I automatically get nervous.

We graduated on a Sunday and buried a classmate on the next day.  My mom, who hosted a lunch after the funeral, said it was the only time there were 8 pairs of black shoes sitting in her living room.  How this can stay so close to the heart this many years on I will never know.  But I am always nervous for the graduating class in my building.  I don’t want them to go through what I went through.  I don’t want them to know this dread and fear.

I finished college #1 in May.  My Bachelor’s degree that led to many years of teaching English.  How I enjoyed that.  I taught English from 1995 to 2015.  Many years of those year I taught while I was also the school counselor.

I finished college #2 in May.  A Master’s degree that led to my becoming a school counselor at the behest of Jim Stewart.  Jim was a principal at Medora I would have run through a brick wall for.  Had he not asked me to come back to Medora, I would not have him to thank for many good times.  Many of those were in his presence.  I miss that man.  He was the best school guy I ever knew.  Well, maybe Bob Mahan is 1B.  Got him to thank for a great deal also.

And so it begins.  The end of a school year like we have never known before.  Masks on, kids on virtual, watching other states not even remotely close to classes, avoiding crowds, not being in the middle of it.  It has been awful for this ole boy.  In a new building as Covid began.  Not being able to be myself.  Masks all the time. Wow.

I just hope and pray all the kids stay safe.  We need them.

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson