A new page is available on this website. It is a collection of brief anecdotes from my teaching career.
Chapters: The Golden Rule, Larceny, Heartwarming Stories, Outrageous!, Teacher Education, Mayhem, Brushes with the Law, Outside Encroachment, More Heartwarming Stories
To access Stories from a Retired Teacher, please click the title on the menu to the left.
New green leaf unfurls
hopeful in the lush forest,
flutters in the breeze.
Yellow leaf shines bright
against a backdrop of green,
still clings to the branch.
Yellow leaf drifting
enjoyed its day in the sun,
now rests on the earth.
Copyright© 2020 by Cheryl Batavia
I like a man with warm, strong hands,
and I like the way my hand fits yours.
I like a man who thinks deep thoughts,
who talks abstractions
in the middle of the night
in a soothing Southern drawl.
I like to ride around with a man
who drives like he is seventeen,
but has the wisdom of a sage.
I like a man who is a truth-teller,
a man with honor in his eyes.
I like a man who makes me laugh,
who is silly and witty and wicked.
I like a man with warm, strong arms,
and I like the way I feel in yours.
Reprinted from Wonders
Copyright© 2018 by Cheryl Batavia
Thoughts turning homeward,
World streaming by,
Blue sky, blue water.
Soaring in the blue,
Like soaring birds,
My thoughts fly to you.
Over the Skyway,
Head in the clouds,
Blue sky, blue water.
Reprinted from Wonders
Copyright© 2018 by Cheryl Batavia
Helios, in his fiery chariot,
crosses the sky each day.
His sister Selene,
in her chariot of silver,
travels the night sky.
We mark our days.
The moon waxes and wanes.
The seaons change.
Our birthdays mark the years
since the planets aligned…
and we were born.
Robert, my sun rises
and sets in you.
I will love you all my days.
I thank my lucky stars
for the day we met.
Copyright 2019© by Cheryl Batavia
Through the green forest
we descend a shady path
to Dark Hollow Falls.
Bright sunlight sparkles
on the cascading water
as it thunders down.
Taking off our shoes,
we splash in the icy pool
at waterfall’s end.
Our spirits refreshed,
we begin the steep ascent
as the sun goes down.
Copyright© 2020 by Cheryl Batavia
This was my favorite hike in Shenandoah National Park when I lived in Virginia. There are half a dozen trails leading to gorgeous waterfalls in the park, as well as trails to beautiful overlooks of the valleys. I have fond memories of hiking many of those trails with family and friends.
Drew, I held your hand
as you left the world behind,
and I made promises to you.
I never cry…I stopped crying long ago,
but I am crying now as I remember.
Some promises I have kept
better than others.
I like to think you would be happy
with the way your autobiography turned out.
Your brother Mitch finished your book.
Your mother and I supported his efforts
for more than a year.
The Don Quixote in a wheelchair
that Mitch drew for you in high school
is on the cover.
I know you would approve.
I promised to raise our children
as you would have wanted
them to be raised, and I did my best.
Our children are grown up now,
and the struggles of life continue.
We have cherished our memories of you.
Our children remember your wise advice
and try to follow your example…
You left some pretty big shoes for us to fill!
I have made a new promise
for our grown-up children:
I will be their mother till the day I die
and always love them as I always loved you.
I know that you would be happy
that I have found someone to grow old with,
as you wished me to do.
He is someone I know you would like.
Drew, I wish I could have done more
to keep my promises to you.
I hope you would approve
of the things I have done.
Copyright© 2020 by Cheryl Batavia
Drew’s autobiography, Wisdom from a Chair: Thirty Years of Quadriplegia, by Andrew Batavia and Mitchell Batavia is available on Amazon.
Gulf Coast Poet 