“Did you know that my grandmother is a newspaper reporter?” ?Third-grader Riley queried his principal on this subject just before his school’s annual grand parents’ luncheon. Carole Anne White, who heads St. John’s Catholic School in North Charleston, assured him that she did indeed have this information at her disposal.
          “Well then,” Riley continued, “don’t you think we should get her to write about this day? Then everybody in the world could read about it. Wouldn’t that be great?” Miss White was telling me about this young man’s plan for increasing our circulation as I was thanking her for a delightful chicken salad meal.
          During the subsequent classroom tour led for Jim and me by Riley and his sister Grace, I told our grandson about my conversation with Miss White. I thought he’d talk to me about all the hard work the students had done rehearsing the songs and the special presentations, as well as decorating and coloring souvenir “What Makes A Grandparent” programs. Not exactly.
          His first comment was: “Well, I think it’s wicked awesome for you to write for a newspaper,” he enthused, looking up at his aged ancestor in some wonder, “especially since you’re a grandma!” Well, so do I, Riley. So do I. And am I going to write about that day? You bet your booty! (And you know, of course, this nearly-nine-year-old may have a brilliant future in public relations, especially in the senior community!)
          St. John’s is a small – 55 students in K-4 through eighth grade – parochial school. The church and the school buildings are on the same campus. The grand parents’ luncheon program was delivered by the fourth grade, and as Miss White described it, “food was served and tables cleared by our school’s own senior citizens, i.e., our seventh and eighth graders.” Riley and Grace’s parents have an architectural practice on the old Navy Base. They live a few blocks away from their office in one direction and a few blocks away from the school in the other direction, so it’s a win-win situation for the whole family.
          The luncheon was also an opportunity for grand parents to buy books for each of their grandchildren to donate to the school library. (And you know we all did that!) As I recall, our dedicated volumes this year had to do with princesses and robots.
            But what is always so special about this occasion is that when you go to this school, everybody knows everybody. Teachers know all the students in all the grades. They can also call the names of parents and grandparents, as well as inquire about other siblings (and I suspect pets as well) at home. In the middle of all our local regional growth – roads, schools, houses, and the necessary infrastructure to support same – we can always find comfort corners in our lives. These can include schools like St. John’s, as well as athletic teams, music ensembles and clubs which bring together those of like interests – be it cultural arts or civic organizations. These give us a cozy sense of belonging.
          This is the way that young populations – like historic Summerville, for instance – grew to be warm, involved societies. And this is the thing that is really the most “wicked awesome!”