She, Who's Good Side You Want to be On

I stopped by the girls old elementary school today to see, she who's good side you want to be on....Claudia. Her title at the school is clerk, but she is SO much more than that. That school could not run without her. She can tell you anything you want to know about anybody there. She can answer any question you have, better than the person you should actually be asking! She has been there for more than twenty years. She knows all.

When I first encountered Claudia, she scared the crap out of me. I felt like I was back in fourth grade and I was not even the one she was speaking to. I was standing there waiting to ask a question with my first and third graders in tow. TOW, that is also the name of the school. Top of the World. I listened as Claudia chastised three girls who had missed the bus. They came in to ask her what to do and she told them if they hadn't been using the phone they would have made their bus and to go to their classes and tell their TEACHER they missed the bus. Then looks at me and says, "Yes?" I don't remember the question as it was five years ago, but I remember the feeling.

From that time on, when anybody suggested I call Claudia, I would beg them to do it. "Why?" They would ask. "Because I am afraid of her." I would answer. Then they would laugh and tell me that she wasn't THAT bad. I was volunteering in my girls classrooms. I hated taking anything to the office and God forbid I needed help with the copy machine!

It wasn't that she was mean to me. She wasn't. She frightened me the first day, and I could not let that image go. She was frank and to the point. Usually, I am okay with those types. HA

When I agreed to be cookie mom for one daughter's troop, I had the initial training at Claudia's house. Talk about shaking in your boots! I went to the meeting and she has a lovely house and she seemed so much warmer at home. Claudia, even though her kids are now in college, she is cookie manager for the entire town. She has been forever.

I got to know her very well thru cookie sales that year and it made all the difference in the world. I was no longer in fear of her and I actually liked her very much. I could call her and get anything I wanted done. She was definitely the person in the know. Even now, if the weather station at the school goes down, I can call her to have the teacher reboot it. Much faster than emailing said teacher!

This morning I stopped by to pick up the incentives, known as bribes, for the girls in our troop who won these prizes. It was nice to see Claudia again. I miss her. I don't have that kind of clout in the middle school!

Tomorrow marks the first anniversary since Claudia's husband died of melanoma. Kurt was a fighter pilot and then a commercial and private pilot as well. They think he got the skin cancer from the sun coming thru the window of the cockpit. One story they told at his funeral last year was, that somebody at their house saw a photo of eagles and asked what kind of lens he used on his camera. He said, regular lens. He had flown very close to the nest to take that awesome photo. There were several pilots at the funeral with similar stories. He was quite the daredevil.

Anyhow, Claudia's sisters are flying in tomorrow to be with her. I thought that was nice. She seems to be doing okay.