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CAT Tracks for January 2, 2021
RIP: CHARLOTTE ARINGTON |
Long-time employee of Cairo School District Number One, Charlotte Arington, passed away at home today, surrounded by family and friends, after an extended illness. Charlotte was 74.
Charlotte did two tours as a science teacher at CHS/CJSHS, the first from 1983 until 1993, the second from 1998 until 2007...the year she retired from education. But, actually, she came back the next two years to teach on a part-time basis.
From The 2006-07 Egypti
2007 Retirees Pictured in #3
On a more personal note...
I was blessed to have Charlotte as a friend.
During our "school years", we would socialize with our tight-knit group of fellow teachers. While the others went shopping, Steve Dain (lost on New Year's Day in 2007), Charlotte and I would camp out in the nearest bar. In later years, our "retired teachers group" would meet often for "eating festivities", frequently at Charlotte's favored Mexican food restaurants.
After many years of arm twisting, I finally accepted a standing invitation to join the "traveling retired teachers club", enjoying days of sightseeing, lounging, and, yes, the much anticipated eating festivities.
Speaking of "camping out in the bar"...
My other friends gave up adult beverages, leaving Charlotte and I to CHEERS! each other up. I preferred "heavy" beers while Charlotte stuck with her ice-cold Bud Light on tap. I will always remember, after taking the first sip of our chosen draft beers in frosty mugs, Charlotte's inevitable exclamation: "Oh, that's so good!" Good times, old friends:
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Old friends
Old friends
Sat on their park bench
Like bookends
A newspaper blown through the grass
Falls on the round toes
On the high shoes
Of the old friends
Old friends
Winter companions
The old friends
Lost in their overcoats
Waiting for the sunset
The sounds of the city
Sifting through trees
Settle like dust
On the shoulders
Of the old friends
Can you imagine us
Years from today
Sharing a park bench quietly?
How terribly strange
To be seventy
Old friends
Memory brushes the same years
Silently sharing the same fear
Lyrics by Paul Simon
"How terribly strange to be seventy"...
...indeed.
Charlotte, my dear "old friend", I bought a six-pack of bottled Bud Light...
...sadly, I can't go to Los Amigos and order a draft during these pandemic times, times which kept us apart during your final year...
...but I've just popped the top, poured it into a frosty mug, and as I send out this missive in your honor, all I can add is:
Cheers, Charlotte!
For all you did for students in Cairo and elsewhere (in public schools, and Catholic schools as a nun), for the joy and the love you brought to your family and friends...
...this Bud's for you!
See you on the other side...
