quirks and conviviality

I have hesitated to write about any particular personalities in our class, in the interest of respecting peoples’ privacy.

Suffice it to say we have an eclectic mix. One I have mentioned previously. She is a lovely (beautiful inside and out) young woman who emigrated here from Uganda with her American husband, who is 20 years older than she is. She has a delightful laugh, incredible bones and when called upon in class, she takes her time, as would a gracious lady, composing her thoughts and then bringing out something that is cogent, with a nice melody and accent in her voice. She is beautiful to listen to. She is my row mate-we have sat with one seat between us since the very first night of class.

We have someone who keeps his thoughts pretty close to the vest, but at times both his humor and his story leak out in a delightful display of humanity. He is, I think, the lynch pin in our unspoken tolerance rule. He treats each person with respect and courtesy, regardless of the behavior of the other or their position in the pecking order. It is clear that he engenders trust, as he has befriended a man with many scars, who has an incredible personal story, and has apparently earned his trust.

We have a young lady who is raising her own young daughter and 3 siblings, all while working part time and going to school. She frequently appears stretched and pulled but still put together. She is good friends with another classmate and appears to have become good friends with another younger student. In fact, socially we seem to divide based mostly on age, with the exception of those in the middle. They may go either way. And Abigail. She seems to be older than she is, because she has such poise.

We have a union activist, a law enforcement officer, a flooring salesman, a retired Marine and several other kinds of people. We have more women than men, although that will change in the fall, as the class that will join us is predominantly men. There are more middle aged students than post-college age, and perhaps that has colored our experience in class more than I realized. We know who we are, we know why we are there and we also know that there is more to life than law. I like that part of being middle aged, just not the ‘aged’ part.