intelligent person.
As a little girl growing up I would often hear people say things like “Marylynn is so bright.” “She is such a smart little girl.” “She’s going to go places in life.”
Maybe I was. Smart that is. I don’t know. Maybe I would ‘go places’, (whatever that meant). I never thought too much about it. After all, doesn’t everyone play the piano by age four? Don’t all kids know their A-B-C’s and able to count to 100 by the time they are three? What was so special about that?
Hmmmm, maybe I was smart. Now that I think of it, my friend Janet couldn't count to 100 until she was five.
My first-grade teacher, Mrs. Gilbertson, suggested to my parents that I skip second grade. Move to third. She said I far excelled all the work required in second grade and could easily adjust to third.
Really? I would get to skip a grade. Cool.
Hey, wait a minute. I’d have to leave my friends behind and make new friends. Did I want to do that? Janet was in grade two. She wouldn’t be moving with me. But she’d still be in the same school, so I’d still get to see her.
Okay, not a big deal. I’d just make new friends and keep the old.
That fall I found myself in third grade.
I soon adjusted to this idea of being a year behind in age from the other kids , but a year ahead in grade from them. Kind of confusing. But this smart girl could figure it out - right?
All was good until I reached high-school. Now I had competition. If I wanted to keep up the “smart girl” persona I had to work a little harder. There was this guy in my class. His name was Oliver. (Who names their kid Oliver?). Well, Oliver was a supergenius.
I was smart. Oliver was a brainiac. I would have to keep my eye on him. Wonder if he skipped second grade.
Oliver was a nice enough guy, but a little too nerdy for me. He wasn’t bad looking, just not my type. (Although he did ask me to the junior prom. I said “no” - I couldn’t imagine myself with this guy who had his nose in a book all the time).
I may have been a smart girl and worked hard to keep my 4.0 grade average, but I was also fun. I performed in the junior and senior play. Belonged to the Drama Club. Liked to dance and hang out with my friends, and play the piano. I had lots of friends.
Oliver, on the other hand, studied constantly, read everything related to science and technology, among other things. He was always in the library reading! He belonged to the Science Club (yuck) and the Chess Club (boring) and was on the Debate Team (Oh brother). Not a fun guy at all. I rarely saw him smile.
So where did life take these two individuals after graduation? How did their intelligence work for them?
Oliver went off to college and eventually landed a job with the government working at NASA enjoying all that “scientific” stuff he loved when in high school. He was even involved in sending some astronauts into space.
Marylynn finished college, but instead of starting her dream career in Marketing, fell in love with her college sweetheart and became a “Domestic Engineer”. A career that outshines Marketing any day of the week.
A “Domestic Engineer” is overworked and underpaid. She is a nurse one minute and a teacher the next. A chef or a laundress. A chauffeur or a cheerleader. A financial advisor or a bookkeeper. An artist or a referee. She can multi-task while kissing away a hurt or help heal a broken heart.
The role of a Domestic Engineer is both tiring and exhausting but the rewards far exceed any Marketing opportunity.
Did I mention that she earned a title? Not just an ordinary title like “President” or “CEO” but a title that would stay with her for the rest of her life.
Her title…..Mom. Mom to three precious boys. Although adult boys today, with families of their own, to them she is still….
Mom… She is still the person these boys go to when they need advice, comfort, encouragement or just want to talk.
To them she will always be…. The smartest, most intelligent person in the world.
Based on true events