I’d rather be a hooker, thanks

Melissa
Teacher, widow hooker, writer, mother
Aunt to Emily and Thomas
Lover of cats, Sally, reading and farmer’s wraps
Who feels happy when sewing, bored when marking, excited when shopping
Who fears birds, a morning without coffee, being sick
Who needs conversation, yarn, and love
Who gives love, kindness and knitted dishcloths
A resident of Sackville, New Brunswick
Gauthier

Modeling assignments is an encouraged teaching practice I happen to use a lot. It solidifies the assignment for me in terms of purpose and student expectations. The ‘biopoem’ writing lesson from above happens to be one of my favorites. I always begin by writing my own on the board but this year I took pause: who am I now? I pondered the word “widow” to replace my traditional “wife”. No, not ready for that explanation with my sweet 7’s today, so I stuck in hooker, and it created a fabulous response!! (I do see the irony here now)

My mother hated being identified as a widow. She told me she would much rather have been called   a harlot. I will pause to allow those of you who knew my mother to let that notion sink in {pause}. It is difficult to figure out who you are when you’ve been wrapped up with someone else’s identity for thirty years. I am not the same person I was pre-Patrick, nor do I want to be, and yet I am a very different woman now; I need only to look back at what I’ve accomplished since last April to know that. But I am assembling parts of the old me and the new me, and putting them together with my favorite fixative, modge podge! It is messy sometimes and the odor can be a bit intoxicating, the edges get torn if they are not stuck down properly so you may need to sand them for roughness, but I think it’s working.

I loved being known as Pat’s wife. I love being called Mrs. Gauthier. Like my mother, I am not too fond of widow, but I’ll not go so far as taking harlot over it! But hooker is okay, and I will tell you why. A hooker (rug hooker, that is) takes wool from the past (my mother’s Nova Scotia tartan skirt), and jersey(Pat’s favorite t-shirt) and neat yarns and beautiful wool colors from Deanne Fitzpatrick’s rug hooking shop to create a fantastic story on burlap. And that’s what I am into creating right now: a fantastic story to hang onto, for this Gauthier family that Patrick and I began.

Until next time,

Melissa