Stubborn!

“Stubborn!”

Photo by Galt Museum & Archives on Unsplash‍ ‍

That was my father’s word for her.

“Your mother is stubborn!”

And it was true.

She was solidly,

silently

stubborn.

One summer day,

she saw a notice in the paper.

A nearby town would have no kindergarten

unless they found a teacher.

Married women didn’t work

in those days.

Besides,

she had no teacher’s certificate,

only a degree in early childhood education.

Yet she believed in kindergarten,

so she presented herself,

believing,

and was hired.

I can still hear the rough edge of my dad’s voice.

“People will think I can’t support my family!”

If she answered,

I heard nothing.

But, ignoring the thrust

of her husband’s bottom lip—

oh, the weight of that petulant lip!—

she went to work,

day after day after day after day

for the nearly a quarter of a century.

Once,

when she was very old,

I asked how she had managed

to stand her ground

for so many long

embattled

years.

She said only,

“There was a notice in the paper …

and I believed in

kindergarten.”

Surely “stubborn”

is another word

for strong!