Rita Rome:  

Life Since High Point? Wait, first of all, why can't people believe that we had a really nice group of kids? Was I so oblivious that I didn't see meanness, in-groups and out-groups, just people? Yes, we had our close circles of friends, then acquaintances, classmates, hellos in the hallways...but I just don't remember ugly behavior. Who did I have a crush on? Mr. Trumble, our physics teacher!!! Wasn't he great? I also have a blurry memory of 7th grade, when we had the Jr/Sr high school before Rollingcrest and Buck Lodge were built. I had a very cute, blond, male math teacher, Mr. Weisenbord. I was talking to a classmate, naturally, and he slammed his pointer down on the nearest desk, and said, "Woman, hush your mouth!" I sad there, dazed, thrilled, thinking, "He called me woman, he called me woman!." Moving along, at 18, I went straight to U of MD where I majored in early childhood ed. What fun to cross the campus during class break and say "hi" every minute because of knowing so many people from HP, Blair, even Northwestern. I didn't know then that I had ADD, and concentrating on my studies was always hard for me. Discussions were easy, though, and that is why my high school teachers told my parents that I should be getting straight A's. What were they talking about? I told my parents that the teachers just didn't understand what was difficult for me. I remember being grounded in high school in order to bring my grades up. Well, that did a lot of good. I'd daydream on weeknights whether I had a Saturday night date or not. Dream about the date I had or the date I did not...no difference. My first teaching experience was traumatic. The planning overwhelmed me, so I returned to school to get my art certification. That was a wonderful decision. I taught in Frederick County, in Middletown, loved the rural kids, and later quit to raise my two children. Evan was born in 1969, and Deborah in 1971. Woodstock?, people ask me. Nope, I was a suburban housewife by then. Raised the kids in Gaithersburg, and was very active in B'nai B'rith Women. Volunteered with underprivileged, battered women, Special Olympics, and got into public affairs. Tried to get the equal rights amendment passed, rid of us the electoral college (good luck!) and lobby for human rights. When I divo...Expand for more