mama bear comes to town

i started calling maria kelly, my college advisor, role model and diva, “mama bear” when she used to drive 14 of us around in a big st. olaf van during ed 170—a class i took during interim freshman year. having her (and her sister brigdget) here at woodstock for a few days showed me how special it is sharing “new worlds” with loved ones.

cole and i cooked maria and bridget our specialties (french toast and pasta) and took them to all of our favorite restaraunts. on a particularly tough, stressful teaching day, maria and i “centered our chi” (one of her true catch phrases) by leaving school early to go shopping and piercing our ears in the bazaar (that’s a picture of us in front of the store). when we entered the store, I asked the man behind the counter if he did piercings. he grabbed the piercing gun anda pen and said, “where do you want it,” before I could ask, “how much,” (approximately 85 cents) or, "is it clean?"

being with maria simply inspires me. at one moment, during morning assembly, i found myself between maria and shonila, two of my guru/diva/idols whom i respect beyond words. it's having people like that around.