First Hell, Then an Angel

The old farm, Eichorn, was south of town. Our new home was north of town. The Lepp farm was about two miles from the county line and between two school districts. I was seven when I moved there, so I started second grade in a new school. That experience was another that shaped my feelings and perceptions for the rest of my life. It seems our township was too small to sustain the school that had been there. One bus of children was being sent to another school. And, I was the stranger (me and my brothers) on that bus. I've never asked either of them how it was for them. But, for me it was my first taste of HELL. I'd had no trouble in first grade making friends. Now, suddenly in second grade I was being treated like dirt. The other township kids, there were just a few in each class, were treated badly too. But they could stick together. So I was the scapegoat. Pure Prejudice. No one even tried to get to know me. And the Teacher was horrid too. That first day she wrote the new kids names on the blackboard. She did not loop the e's and my name looked like LuAnn. I tried to tell her that was wrong, but she refused to listen. I had to go to that school for 2 years and they never called me anything but LuAnn. I even have a yearbook from the school that says my name is LuAnn. I still absoluetly hate that name. It's the only "tease" that feels cruel to me. Though I can't say so without having to explain the whole thing. It certainly taught me a lesson though. I have never treated or judged anyone without getting to know them first. And, I won't tolerate prejudice of any kind. Even now, I can TOUCH the pain caused to a little girl who didn't understand. Those children learned from their parents to hate for reasons I'll never understand. Just because they didn't want a bus load of kids in their school? We just moved at the wrong time, and I don't know what was behind it all.

I believe my saving grace was the small country church we attended. The children there belonged to another school, and they accepted me. It was my port in a storm even more than church usually is. After two years the bad school refused to accept our one bus township group again. We were sent to the school on the other side of our area. So now I could go to the same school as the kids from our church.

Deeply embedded in my mind is getting off the bus that first day. Leaning out of a window up on the second floor was Sharon. No initials this time. I wish I could tell the world what an Angel Sharon is. When a scared little girl stepped of the bus, Sharon yelled "Lee Ann, up here!" She was at the front door before I got there and led me to our class room. I didn't have to worry about being LuAnn anymore. Sharon was still in my class when we graduated. I still consider her my Angel. She is the best example of living a Christian Life that I've ever known in my life. She is married to a wonderful man and they have never failed to be there for me when there was a funeral in my family. She probably doesn't know, though I've told her, just how much she did for me. I'm still whole, because of Sharon Windon Murphy.