About this time, 18 years ago, in 2005, my son Reuben was graduating from high school, only he didn't. We were filling out the paperwork and paying for the robe package when the counselor informed me that Reuben couldn't walk with the rest of his 6A class (a very large popular school district) because he was lacking 1/2 of a credit to graduate. It was in ART. What? Are you serious? I was furious!! The counselor had been exhibiting signs of dementia or early onset Alzheimers for about a year or so, but no one on the staff wanted to let her go. She had been there for so long; she was a staple. Everyone had assumed she would live forever, I think. To put it another way, she was married to a man who was my vice principal 27 years before that. To say she was old was an understatement.
I had almost graduated with a Ph.D. in Administration. I was already teaching at the college level when I got an idea. I could pull my son out of high school and enroll him in my school, not the school I taught at, but I could create a school. It would be a home-school situation. The alternative was to sue the school district, and that would take time, and it would be ugly as well. We didn't want money; we wanted Reuben to graduate. He deserved that. The principal agreed, and we never asked the District.
Reuben was taken out of his school with the colors of orange and black, the mascot being the Pirates, and because he wasn't in the Honor Society or any other club, he was allowed to withdraw and simply walk away. I enrolled him into my newly created "school," and he was placed in ONE class; a movie. The college I worked at had an amazing film department. The department was headed by famed director and executive producer Gray Frederickson. He and I had worked together in the past on "The Outsiders." Reu was given the role of "the young cop" in a movie with the working title of "Wisteria." It was filmed on set in the summer of 2005 but wasn't released for at least two years; under the name "The Gray Man." It's the biographical story behind the murderer Albert Fish. It was set in New York City in the late 20s and early 1930s. Fish was arrested in 1930, escaped, was rearrested, and died in 1936.
During the film, we were given full access, of course, to the set and everything that happened on it. Reuben was not an extra, but he didn't have any lines. He was an active member, and they used him in several scenes. The sad case was that after the editing, he was only seen in two or three, and you had to look really hard to find him. I can't believe they cut the scene of him tackling a bootlegger running out of the barn in the field! He was amazing!! The director took so many takes because Reuben was too good at the tackle. The actor decided to use a stand-in, but they finally got the scene shot without Reuben looking like he came off the Oklahoma Sooner's line during the OU/TX game. What can I say? He was "enthusiastic."
Since that time, the boy enlisted in the U.S. Army went on at least two overseas tours, was stationed in Fairbanks, AK, for four years, and came back to Oklahoma. He joined the Indiana National Guard for a couple of years, and he is still in the Guard, but now he's in the very elite Oklahoma National Guard, 45th Infantry. He'd have to tell you all the numbers and names that follow, but I know he's an E6 and about to become an E7. He came back from the war, enrolled in college at Oklahoma University, and, yes, he is now in the Honor Society. I couldn't be more proud.
I really do think about things that make these types of changes in our lives. He would never have been able to explore that side of himself if he hadn't been given the raw end of the deal as a Senior in high school. I mentioned the colors and mascot earlier. My son graduated from Putnam City Homeschool, and we (he) was the Privateers. Our colors are black and gold, and I never officially closed it down. My daughters graduated from it, and their transcripts, like their brother's, have been authenticated by the district we live in and by the colleges they later enrolled in. They all took Compass tests to enter college; they are official. We even had a fight song, but it's very graphic, inappropriate, and no, I won't write the lyrics for you. I didn't write it (that's all, Caity).
So, time rolls on, and I find old pictures that take me back to those particular years. On this day, the day the photo was taken, Reuben had his hair cut by the hair/makeup woman on set. He had shoulder-length strawberry blond curls. She basically shaved him, and she kept the ponytail for herself. Wow. He was laughing, saying he saved himself about $30! Mom cried. It was a great day. (It was filmed in Guthrie, Oklahoma, not New York City.) I took Reuben to NYC with me that year before he enlisted in the Army. He prefers Guthrie! LOL
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