Thursday, July 25, 2024
The first time I met Avious I was about 17 or 18 years old. My mom, Ellarie (Avious’ cousin), and I had arrived at their house and Avious was still at the school. She was a teacher. Susan navigated directions to the school. The plan was for me to go in and surprise Avious and let her know I am Ellarie’s daughter. If I remember correctly, she was teaching first grade. Susan took me and my mom inside the building and when we got to the hall where the classroom was, they stayed hid around the corner while I walked toward the classroom. I saw a woman and asked if she was Mrs. Griffith. She answered, yes, and looked startled, almost scared. I told her, “my name is Gwen, and I’m Ellarie’s daughter.” She was so surprised!, and Susan was laughing so hard (quietly) around the corner and my mom was laughing at Susan. After the introduction, Susan laughed freely out loud and my mom and Avious hugged. Then Avious proceeded to say that there were two moms of students she hadn’t yet met and one of them flunked school and she thought I may have been the mother of that student and thought I was going to be unkind. She was relieved I was not the young mother.
