People who tattooed my life #4: Anne Plant

I was basically my Mom's menopause :)  I was a "happy accident" when Mom was 42, and she , erm DID before I was born and she , erm, didn't afterwards.

That explains a lot , those who know me might say !

In truth what it DID mean is that I missed out a couple of generations of parents. My folks were as old as the grandparents of the kids I went to school with. My brother and sister were decades older than me. I was effectively an only child of older parents.

Now there were some huge compensations in that and I am not complaining, just stating.  I lived in books and music, face turned down to read and listen, not up to see faces and talk. I was introverted and very home focused.

At Nine Leasowes Primary School I was happiest left alone. I did all my work okay but hated class interaction.

Anne is 2nd from right 2nd row from bottom

Then I had a teacher: Anne Plant. Anne was a BIG woman in every way: loud, confident, verbal and she dressed out at around sixteen stones.  A very Sixties / early seventies woman too.

She took a shine to me, despite me being a little whelk curled in my shell at the back of the class. Almost imperceptibly she began to find out what ignited my interest: History, music, English, animals...and she would come to class most days armed with a new thing for me to devour. A photo, a record, a book, a picture she drew, a poem she wrote. She would then refer to this item in class with a question "Who knows...?". Of course only I would know and eventually I just HAD to answer out loud despite my shyness !

Over the two years she was my teacher she teased me out of my shell like you might tease a kitten from under the floorboards with titbits of food. Her husband Austin (yes his name was Austin Plant!) worked in education too and together they ran camps at their house in their massive garden. (Can you IMAGINE that happening today ?). They invited me to many but I always refused until one day I went. My first time under another roof without family there. A small step for a kid but a giant leap for me !

Eventually I had another teacher, and then I moved to High school and Mrs Plant was forgotten.

Many years later I was called upon to run a technical presentation for a roomful of senior people for the first time.  I was pretty crap and nervous but I managed. I found myself using that technique Anne Plant used to keep the kids engaged: asked a question that only a very few "initiates" knew the answer to.  I was immediately filled with gratitude for Anne's love and care, and the full effect of her brilliance and investment hit home to me.

I wish I could find out if she's still around, I'd love to say thanks in person and share with her the adventures I have had in my life that she sowed the seeds for. A great teacher, and a great human.