Hey! Aren't You The Lady Who Called Me Names?

Recently I experienced what I like to call a full-circle moment.

A mother (who shall remain nameless) of a former student (who shall also remain nameless) and I happened to cross paths. After staring at me for a long, awkward minute, she said,

Aren't you Mrs. So-And-So?

That I am, I replied. I had to admit to myself that I had no clue who this woman was (it's been a while), so rather than play along and act like I had it all together, I asked her to help me out with her name.

She said her last name and my mind raced back into time.

A time when I was the unfortunate focus of a small group of mothers who evidently had too much time on their hands. A time when their teenage daughters complained of unfair treatment...

...and I'll pause here to clarify the unfair treatment dealt with obviously unimportant academic issues (sarcasm!) like plagiarism and unfinished homework and forged parent signatures...

But I digress.

For one horrible week, my character was assaulted and my name was whispered one too many times in the corridors of a school-

And once again, my mind wants to dredge it all up again.

Get to the point, right?

This mother from years gone by stood and chatted with me about kids and schools and life. She asked about my kids and I asked about hers and after a few minutes of small talk, we prepared to part ways. That's when she paused, turned back around, and this particular circle became complete.

She hugged me. Thanked me. And totally caught me off guard.

Beginning.
Middle.
Closure.

I love it when things come together.