was so excited that he might have combusted if we had waited until the last minute.
The place looked unbelievable.
Parents carried poster boards. Teachers unloaded trays of cookies. Middle schoolers held giant hand-drawn signs that said things like “WE REMEMBERED YOUR BIRTHDAY TOO.”
Former students were everywhere. Some brought the old cards Mr. Walter had written for them in plastic sleeves, and one woman had even framed hers.
I spotted Linda talking to a young woman I did not recognize.
The woman looked like she was in her early
