The day is warm but gray. Mindy Fairchild has collected the ten children from the foster homes in her district. This is their outing day. In the jitney bus she has a basket for each child with a peach, a plum and a few sweet grapes. In plastic bags she has peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and in a large thermos, cold lemonade to wash down the sticky peanut butter. There are paper napkins to spare.
‘Jamie, would you like to be the leader to take us to the playground area today?’ she asks. Jamie’s big blue eyes pop wide open. Jumping up and down, she happily replies, ‘ Yes, Yes, Miss Fairchild. May I start now?’ ‘Come on, Kids, follow the leader and I’m it today. Two boys in the rear start a scuffle. Miss Fairchild separates them by putting Will with Bill and Harry with Barry. Rhyming the names when she can, makes things easier for her sometimes. Jamie swings her arms and walks faster. ‘Miss Fairchild, I think I just felt a rain drop. Should we turn back? ‘Not yet, Jamie. Look over there. The sun is fighting with the clouds. Let’s go a little further to see who wins.’ She turns to the group, ‘Let’s count,’ The children sing out, ‘One, two, three four, Who are we for?’ Joseph calls out, ‘Miss Fairchild.’ Barry yells, ‘Superman.’
Each child has a favorite. Jamie is the only one who lifts her eyes, looks at the heaven and says loudly, ‘ My Mommy.’
‘How about snacks now, Kids? Anybody ready for lemonade? The voices harmonize, ‘Can’t you guess? Yes, Yes.’ Jamie leads her friends to the path near the street, but not too near. There are wooden benches and tables for small children and big adults. The little children take the smaller seats while the boys give then the raspberries and call them babies.
‘Children look,’ says Miss Fairchild. ‘Then sun is winning. The clouds are on the run, flying to lands far across the ocean. Twenty hands clap. ‘Jamie, will you help me give out the baskets today? Her little mouth smiles and shows two spaces where her baby teeth used to be. ‘Barry, how about you. Will you pour the lemonade while Bill holds the cups?’ Kimberly, who hasn’t said a word since she was picked up this morning, whispers to me, ‘I have to make.’ “ Joseph, will you kindly walk Kimberly to the rest room? Wait outside. Don’t go in, don’t walk away from the door. You are her policeman. When she is safe back with us, the boys can go. The rest of the girls go after them. OK, everybody?’ Raise your hands if my plan is OK. All 10 hands rise. Bill guards the door for the rest of the girls, including Miss Fairchild.
As she is the first out, she hears a noise, a loud noise, the noise she came to hear. ‘Bill, Bill, get the girls out quickly. Now!’ Chaos. Some of the little girls haven’t been able to pick up their panties all the way. The boys giggle and point. ‘Hurry, Hurry, everybody. Stay close to me. The noise gets louder, the sun brighter and brighter. The drummers closer and closer. Children holding hands with their parents seem to come from nowhere. Traffic has been detoured. 100 Boy Scouts come marching down the street, carrying green banners with red troop numbers emblazoned on the felt. Girl Scouts in short green skirts with white blouses wave American flags. One surrey, pulled by a Palomino horse, slowly follows the girls. Miss Fairchild explains, ‘ That’s Mayor Bosworth, mayor of our fair city.’ The mayor waves to us. ‘Wave back children.’ All ten hands follow orders. All twenty hands clap.
Clowns in ruffles, white painted faces come last. The skip, they stop.
They bring balloons to all the children. They do somersaults and hit each other with the balloons. One, a fat one, dances over to Kimberly and bops her head with a blue balloon. It scares her but when everyone laughs, Kimberly laughs too.
The parade has passed. The peanut butter jelly sandwiches have been eaten. There is only a small amount of ice left in the jug. Miss Fairchild gathers her charges and lines them up two by two, beats on her chest like Tarzan and proclaims, ‘I am the leader! It’s time to go back to our bus. Everybody hop, hop as far as you can. After that we’ll all jump like kangaroos. Ready, set, go. Hop, hop.’
Once on the little jitney bus, she stands next to the driver, faces the children and asks, ‘Did you all have–‘ They answer before she finishes the sentence. ‘Yes, we did. We love you Miss Fairchild. Please come for us again next week.’ She starts to whistle a merry tune. It’s something else she does well. Some of the kids pucker up but only bubbles come out of their mouths. The driver opens the door. The children leave, throwing kisses, giving hugs. ‘Don’t forget us,’ they order.
‘I won’t forget any of you,’ she promises. AND DOESN’T. A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ----
The day is warm but gray. Mindy Fairchild has collected the ten children from the foster homes in her district. This is their outing day. In the jitney bus she has a basket for each child with a peach, a plum and a few sweet grapes. In plastic bags she has peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and in a large thermos, cold lemonade to wash down the sticky peanut butter. There are paper napkins to spare.
‘Jamie, would you like to be the leader to take us to the playground area today?’ she asks. Jamie’s big blue eyes pop wide open. Jumping up and down, she happily replies, ‘ Yes, Yes, Miss Fairchild. May I start now?’ ‘Come on, Kids, follow the leader and I’m it today. Two boys in the rear start a scuffle. Miss Fairchild separates them by putting Will with Bill and Harry with Barry. Rhyming the names when she can, makes things easier for her sometimes. Jamie swings her arms and walks faster. ‘Miss Fairchild, I think I just felt a rain drop. Should we turn back? ‘Not yet, Jamie. Look over there. The sun is fighting with the clouds. Let’s go a little further to see who wins.’ She turns to the group, ‘Let’s count,’ The children sing out, ‘One, two, three four, Who are we for?’ Joseph calls out, ‘Miss Fairchild.’ Barry yells, ‘Superman.’
Each child has a favorite. Jamie is the only one who lifts her eyes, looks at the heaven and says loudly, ‘ My Mommy.’
‘How about snacks now, Kids? Anybody ready for lemonade? The voices harmonize, ‘Can’t you guess? Yes, Yes.’ Jamie leads her friends to the path near the street, but not too near. There are wooden benches and tables for small children and big adults. The little children take the smaller seats while the boys give then the raspberries and call them babies.
‘Children look,’ says Miss Fairchild. ‘Then sun is winning. The clouds are on the run, flying to lands far across the ocean. Twenty hands clap. ‘Jamie, will you help me give out the baskets today? Her little mouth smiles and shows two spaces where her baby teeth used to be. ‘Barry, how about you. Will you pour the lemonade while Bill holds the cups?’ Kimberly, who hasn’t said a word since she was picked up this morning, whispers to me, ‘I have to make.’ “ Joseph, will you kindly walk Kimberly to the rest room? Wait outside. Don’t go in, don’t walk away from the door. You are her policeman. When she is safe back with us, the boys can go. The rest of the girls go after them. OK, everybody?’ Raise your hands if my plan is OK. All 10 hands rise. Bill guards the door for the rest of the girls, including Miss Fairchild.
As she is the first out, she hears a noise, a loud noise, the noise she came to hear. ‘Bill, Bill, get the girls out quickly. Now!’ Chaos. Some of the little girls haven’t been able to pick up their panties all the way. The boys giggle and point. ‘Hurry, Hurry, everybody. Stay close to me. The noise gets louder, the sun brighter and brighter. The drummers closer and closer. Children holding hands with their parents seem to come from nowhere. Traffic has been detoured. 100 Boy Scouts come marching down the street, carrying green banners with red troop numbers emblazoned on the felt. Girl Scouts in short green skirts with white blouses wave American flags. One surrey, pulled by a Palomino horse, slowly follows the girls. Miss Fairchild explains, ‘ That’s Mayor Bosworth, mayor of our fair city.’ The mayor waves to us. ‘Wave back children.’ All ten hands follow orders. All twenty hands clap.
Clowns in ruffles, white painted faces come last. The skip, they stop.
They bring balloons to all the children. They do somersaults and hit each other with the balloons. One, a fat one, dances over to Kimberly and bops her head with a blue balloon. It scares her but when everyone laughs, Kimberly laughs too.
The parade has passed. The peanut butter jelly sandwiches have been eaten. There is only a small amount of ice left in the jug. Miss Fairchild gathers her charges and lines them up two by two, beats on her chest like Tarzan and proclaims, ‘I am the leader! It’s time to go back to our bus. Everybody hop, hop as far as you can. After that we’ll all jump like kangaroos. Ready, set, go. Hop, hop.’
Once on the little jitney bus, she stands next to the driver, faces the children and asks, ‘Did you all have–‘ They answer before she finishes the sentence. ‘Yes, we did. We love you Miss Fairchild. Please come for us again next week.’ She starts to whistle a merry tune. It’s something else she does well. Some of the kids pucker up but only bubbles come out of their mouths. The driver opens the door. The children leave, throwing kisses, giving hugs. ‘Don’t forget us,’ they order.
‘I won’t forget any of you,’ she promises. AND DOESN’T.
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