My mother, Mrs. Hendricks – taught at Livermore High, Owensboro High,  Oak Ridge High, Buckingham Junior High, Spalding Junior High (Unit I), and Griffin High  – was famous for being “Down Pat Hendricks.” The veteran educator taught social studies, business, and English for over forty years (not including a brief time period off to have two babies). She earned three degrees  (BA from Western Kentucky College, MA from Western Kentucky University, and a Ed.S. from the University of North Carolina). Pat Hendricks never had a curl out of place, ran her departments with a balance of tact, diplomacy, and regulation (department chair: Buckingham Junior High, Spalding Junior High, and Griffin High), and always had things organized. Mother rarely made errors: I look at my years as a media specialist and cringe: I never lived up to her perfection professionally – or personally.

My senior year pictures: Mother picked out all my outfits, withheld my class ring until the day of pictures (she selected it too – I hated it), and did my makeup, etc. I obeyed my mother – why? Redhead – and a hot temper. I always obeyed my mother… When the pictures came back, I decided not to get them – and she agreed. I didn’t smile in any of the pictures. Why? Creative control. She could take a horse to water, but I wasn’t drinking. All we have of my senior pictures is the one in my yearbook… The class ring was traded in for a Masters ring in 1995 if my own choice and my graduate school pictures: I had creative control at 23 – Mother was too busy transferring to Griffin High to “mess with Anne’s crazy graduate school photo shoots!”

Mother use to joke she never made any mistakes in her professional and academic life but for one thing: in her nervousness to get her Western Kentucky undergraduate ring, she ordered a man’s smaller ring, with a ruby stone. She never wore it, but joked it was her only boo boo. It was too big – she later just put it up and went on to get her graduate school ring. Remember this in this blog – because it has a reason…

Seniors should have creative control on their picture day: Tonight, I tried to remember that when my homeschooled senior was preparing for his pictures – which will be taken tomorrow. He will graduate with a homeschool association we belong to this June – but he has his own homeschool name (his choice), his own homeschool motto (his choice), and his own homeschool colors (he picked out his grandparents’ alma mater, Western Kentucky University and my colors of the old West Georgia College colors). So, red and white rule the day tomorrow, with his “fake” black and white tuxedo picture (remember those days, guys?!) and I’m excited. His photographer is the best in our region!

My son picked out his tie too – and then…I remembered…

“OH MY GOD! I forgot to call and see if your class ring got fixed!”

“MOM!”

Whoops.

Yah.

I dropped the ball.

Again.

Weeks ago, my son’s class ring (bought on the cheap, I’m not going to lie) had the stone fall out. He fought me on getting a ring, but he ended up pleased.He picked out what went on it: piano and Scouts. So, when the ring’s stone went POP, he wasn’t happy with me. He decided to replace the stone and I forgot to call the jeweler to get it back. Senior pictures… Without a class ring.

“Anne, make your list and stick with it.Can’t you get organized? You ran a library for twenty years. Really!” my mother fussed.

Oh wait!

My father has a high school ring, a BA ring, a Masters ring, and a doctoral ring. My grandfather had a BS ring (University of Kentucky, 1926) and a doctoral ring (University of Vienna, 1954. My mother accidentally ordered a BA ring that is a man’s smaller ring. But where are they? LOCKBOX. A crazy Facebook post and email and three phone messages later, I hope my father can deliver them to see what would fit or “pass” in pictures. My backup on hand is a purple Alcorn Central High School ring of my husband’s years – and it clashes horribly with my son’s red and white cap and gown.

My son just gave me that look. I know what he was thinking. “Your mother would never have dropped the ball like you did.” I felt so ashamed. And I am in grad school full-time – I’m not teaching right now like Mother was in my senior pictures. I should have been better prepared: but heck, I did order the cap/gown/diploma/made the appointment and that’s about it… I make lists, but I still drop the ball…

As I did inventory on what my son wears tomorrow, I suddenly remembered something. I went into a room, pulled out a drawer, and found two lockbox keys that have all the class rings in them – at the bank near my home. The crazy calls, inboxes, and emails to my father? Waste of time – I got the keys! I can get them myself!

I’m more organized than I thought I was!!!

I’ll journey tomorrow and get into my lockbox and dump the treasure trove in my son’s hands and say, “Pick one” and if I know him, it will be the red male class ring my mother accidentally bought for her BA from Western Kentucky, size nine- that will fit his slim hand. Ironic that she never wore it (Mother wore her Masters ring), but it will…

Fit Ian’s hand for senior pictures… “Are you SURE it will fit? Have you seen it?”

“Ah…In 1998, it was in the lockbox.”

I hope my memory is right…

“1998?!”

What? That was like… Yesterday!

My mother’s 1961 boo boo? May well be the class ring my son wears for his colors honoring her… Again, my beautiful, organized mother? Is “Down Pat!”

(P.S. Personally, I hope he picks to substitute his ring with my Dad’s Tennessee Military Institute ring that has a big rip down the middle of the stone: Shirley Ense, my father’s second fiancee, threw it at him and busted half of the ring.That’s a great story to tell in a picture…)