"Grampy..., will you be my Show and Tell?"
Would you not agree that this would be an unusual way to start an affair?
Yet, with this innocent request from my, not yet seven year old granddaughter Alexis, the next FIFTEEN years of my life were changed forever.
Of course I complied with her request, meeting with her second grade teacher, Mrs. Adams and then telling a story to her class. My story telling was one of the reasons my granddaughter and I were so close. The other and most important reason was that she lived in my house with my wife, her dad and I, her existence the result of a brief liaison between our son and Lexi's mom.
Mom was no longer in the picture.
The class enjoyed my story so much that I'd been invited back twice more, each story met with laughter and delight. This was especially true of the last one, at the very end of the school year, when my suggestion that her teacher make a list of each child's, "favorite summer things," was met with some skepticism by Mrs. Adams.
However, the resulting inclusion of each of her students within the storyline, along with their favorites, had her laughing along with the class. Their open mouthed..., "How does he know that?" looks and questions to Lexi, became her favorite part of the whole experience.
Evidently, Mrs. Adams felt somewhat the same, as she asked me to stay in the classroom that day, while she brought the class to the cafeteria for lunch. When she returned, we sat down facing each other on the only two adult chairs in the room and she made point of telling me how great a kid Alexis was, that she knew the circumstances of Lexi's upbringing and that she admired what my wife and I were doing. Before I could thank her for the kind words and tell her how much Alexis loved her and her class..., she leaned forward and as her hand reached out and dropped onto my knee, she asked, "Is there any way I could get to know you better?"
OKAY...!
While I wasn't naive or unworldly, her actions and the accompanying question startled me. It also caused me to look at her in a way that I hadn't up until then.
She was young. She was young..., and attractive. Young and attractive in a, young school teacher way. Attractive without trying, hardly any makeup, her clothes looking like she bought them from, "Pilgrims R Us," seemingly everything she wore had high necklines, long sleeves and the length was down to the floor.
All that..., and a wedding ring!
Okay, I've got control of this.
"Not much to know," I mumbled, "making a living, taking care of the family and really enjoying entertaining Lexi's friends and classmates."
I guess that wasn't what she expected, or maybe she'd just thrown it out there, because then she said, "Well..., I know I'd love to have you continue to tell my students stories. Please stop in my classroom in September and maybe...," looking at me hopefully, "we can set up a schedule for you to tell your stories."
I promised that I would, but..., I was still a little taken aback by the brash nature of her statement. I had no doubt that she'd been coming on to me and I hoped my reply would show her that I didn't feel the same.
The final day of school, Lexi brought home a note that was signed by her teacher and all of the students, thanking me for the stories..., and hoping that I would continue, "volunteering," in that same manner.
My wife thought that was a great idea.
By the middle of the summer, I'd stopped thinking about Mrs. Adams and started thinking about telling stories to Lexi's third grade class.
Then we took her to the County Fair.
Lots of animals, lots of vegetables, lots of cotton candy and among all of the other things, a display of quilts made by local quilters. We weren't through the door of the exhibit hall when Alexis shouted, "MRS. ADAMS!" and dashed away.
Because I was still holding the door, the thought, "Quilts... Pilgrim...?" popped into my head.
I got inside just in time to see her leap into the arms of her teacher, the two of them hugging, obviously both just as happy to discover one another.
Mrs. Adams shook my wife's hand, "Please, my name is Elle," (pronounced "L") as Alexis introduced the two of them.
The two of us needing no introduction.
But looking at her..., a "re-introduction," might have been in order.
White shorts, just long enough to escape the label, "short shorts," but short enough to show off her tanned and toned legs. A tank top that had a scooped front, cut just deeply enough to show off some nice cleavage and a hint of tan lines over the top of a lacy bra. Throw in her blond highlighted hair that was plied up on top of her head, and just enough makeup to accentuate her tanned face..., she looked sensational!
Still holding Lexi, Mrs. Adams asked, "Is your grandfather still telling you stories every night?"
