An Education through Letters
A Memoir of My First Grade Teacher Mrs. Jacobson
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"I was overwhelmed, this strange woman hugged me and kissed me, like Grama Susie does, she even dressed like Grama and smelled like her too, clean, polyester clean. She wore a flower-patterned dress and a very bright, flashy broach on her collar. Her hair was gray and braided, with the braid wrapped around her head, fastened with bobby pins, like a crown. Her eyes twinkled; her accent sounded like some of the people I had overheard at the grocery store, Mom said they were Norwegian.
I loved her from the moment she gathered me in her arms…I never looked back at Mom, never even noticed that she was gone. I was special, I was with a new teacher in the 3rd grade classroom, in the same class as Leann who was a 2nd grader, bigger then I was, having learned all the 1st grade stuff before me, she knew how to read. This was going to be a wonderful year."
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About the Book
15 years of correspondence reveals the hopes and dreams of a young boy and his inspirational first grade teacher. Hilda Jacobson touched the lives of many students but did not continue to develop a life-long friendship with all of them. This memoir begins with the arrival of a birthday card in 1970 and traces the monthly letters from Hilda to Michael. The letters reveal the daily challenges of each author, the struggles with harsh North Dakota weather, and the challenge of education from the student and teacher''s perspective. The role of educator is blurred, roles are reversed and, in the end, the student becomes the teacher. In an age of mass, immediate communication, this novel harkens us back to a simpler time, a more innocent time, a time full of inspiration and hope.
About the Author
Michael Deschamp grew up on the prairies of North Dakota in a small town 6 miles from the Canadian boarder. The youngest of 3 children, he was nurtured by a large extended family. After finishing undergraduate studies, he moved to Los Angeles which became his homebase for his many travels, spending a year in Rome, Italy, summers in France, New York City and Toronto. He did graduate work in Rome, Maryland, New York, Berkeley, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles. Michael has taught English in private schools for 17 years and currently, because of hurricane Katrina, he lives on Bayou Lafourche in the small town of Larose, Louisiana.