It was 1962 and I was a freshman in high school fresh off the farm. I was sitting in a Latin class with a teacher "older than dirt". She was very demanding and kept saying "If you carry the cow, you can carry the calf." If you do more, you'll also be prepared when less is needed. We got the meaning and 2 hours of homework every night kept us abreast of what she demanded we learn. I was brought up to not complain and to do what was expected of me. For that I am very glad.
That dear lady, (who was a sophomore in college when McKinley was assassinated), instilled a love of words and their derivation that I carried through my 44 years of teaching. In turn, I passed on the fun of a good vocabulary to my students in school and my seven children at home. A good example was a t-shirt our son wore his sophomore year in college "Is it solipsistic in here or is it just me?" I used that with my 5th graders who are now in college. When they see me, they quote it, and tell me they still love to use the word.
Cecilia
