Final Observation at PANTHER, for Jessica Restaino

You know how there are certain people you will always remember, and who stick in your mind in a particularly vivid way? That’s how you are for me – I truly feel like you are my Tinkerbell Advisor Angel, always there on my shoulder, whispering advice and cheering me on. So, I will always remember our talk at Dunkin Donuts and walking to your car near the tracks on this dismal cold spring morning in Paterson.

I was thinking about your brother and Antonio all day, and I realized I wanted to tell you the story of how I wound up at Montclair. I was in the depths of my despair, feeling utterly erased after years of working anonymously with Jay, when my brother suggested that I go speak to Rich Wolfson, who had been his camp counselor. My brother told me that his intuition told him that Rich, as a professor of education,  would be a good sounding board as I flailed around, trying to reinvent myself. I contacted Rich and we made an appointment to meet two weeks later on January 20, 2009 at noon. That day was Obama’s inauguration, and Sarah was home from school with a bad cold. Miserably, wracked with an ache for hope, I watched the inauguration celebration for as long as I could, and then raced up to campus. After ten minutes of talking, Rich said, “Forget your technology background. You should be an English teacher. I am going to register you as a pre-admit student. Class starts tomorrow. See that building there?” he asked pointing out the window. “Go there and pay your money. Come back and tell me how you are in two years. If you don’t do this, you’ll come back in two years anyway, but without your MAT. Do it the hard way. Start tomorrow.”

So I did. It was such a relief for someone to be directive and to tell me exactly what to do.

So that’s my little story for you and your brother and Antonio.

Today the sun came out in the afternoon and then, biggest surprise of all, Mr. Scarp gave me a lovely letter of recommendation to go with your nomination.

So all in all, it was a great day –

And it’s been a great two years –

In large measure because you’ve been there to make the connections.

So I thank you.

love (appropriately or not),

b