A Look Back

The two children pictured here in their Halloween costumes of 2008 are Lauriane and Roxane. (Lauriane is wearing the hat and is a spitting image of her mother!) They didn't do any trick or treating here in the United States because they live across the Atlantic Ocean on the French Riviera. A few former teachers from the Worcester Adult Learning Center may remember their mother as a former English as a Second language student by the name of Clea Tricot. Clea was from France and was in my Level 4 class. She was one of those special students who come along whom teachers don't forget. Clea was in my class at a time when we were forming student health teams, and her nursing background was invaluable in our efforts. While she was in the class, we invented a health game which we distributed to all six SABES regions. We also wrote a short play (in which Clea starred) entitled,"Your Mother Was Right!" The play was about the importance of the simple act of handwashing.There was another French lady in the class by the name of Martine. Martine and Clea made a team that made what might have been an ordinary class into something special.
I still remember the afternoon that Clea and I walked over to our congressman's office to see if there were some way that she could extend her stay in the United States. The congressman was in Washington at the time, so we spoke with one of his aides. We found out that unfortunately there was no way that her time in this country could be lengthened. Unfortunately? As things worked out, if I were Clea and were clairvoyant, I would have said, "Au revoir, Etats Unis!", because Clea ended up marrying a very nice gentleman from Morocco. They now have these two beautiful children and a parrot (I think.) She also lives in a gorgeous house on the French Riviera with orange trees growing in her front yard and a magnificent view which I will try to show you in another blog if I can get some of her pictures transferred to my blog. Clea sent me a ton of pictures! Stay tuned.
P.S. Clea and her family live in the town of Vence which is in the southeastern part of France near the border of Italy. (She sent me another e-mail.)