The Things They Carried
My title this week is taken from Tim O’Brien’s seminal book of stories about soldiers during the Vietnam War. In it, O’Brien focuses on physical and psychological “things.” Through a series of annual gifts given to me by my executive assistant and good friend Sherrill P’19 over the past 17 years each fall, I hope to ruminate a little about the ways in which these physical items stand as icons for the wonderful relationship Sherrill and I have developed. In addition, I know you will see the playful brilliance that Sherrill exhibits.
Some early gifts in my first years were the crystal ball, the tuning fork, and the pineapple. Sherrill and I are often asked impossible questions: Do you think it will snow next Tuesday? Will the sun shine for graduation? SoSherrill decided that if I had a crystal ball, all would be revealed. Occasionally, I have placed it in the middle of my round table before a meeting where I thought I might be asked such a question. After a series of difficult and somewhat contentious faculty meetings in those early years, Sherrill presented me with a tuning fork right before opening meetings so that I “might hit the right note.” The pineapple, a symbol of hospitality, especially in the South from whence Sherrill hails, was also an item that would, apparently, mysteriously appear somewhere in the view of a visitor as a sign that it was time for them to leave. I would often make that more prominent in my office when I feared that a meeting might go way over time.
Grace Campbell ’19’s painted poem “Hope is the thing with feathers” (Emily Dickinson), Bernard the therapist (in a box), and the numbers game all came a little later and seem now to signal options and possibilities—with a session with Bernard as always available, the absolute beauty and hope of the poem, and the sheer solution to real frustration with the numbers game.
Other memorable gifts, including Gumby and Pokey, the chocolate bar, and the corgi with the nodding head were all just plain fun and symbols of the way in which Sherrill and I have formed such an incredible partnership here in the Head’s Office.
At the foot of a stunning photo of Headmaster Dolph Cheek (1951-1968), framed and presented to me by Sherrill in September 2018, you’ll find the words, “What would Dolph Cheek think?” I think he would approve, not only of the health of our wonderful CSW of today, but of these things, carried by Sherrill to me, and enjoyed by us both over these past 17 years.
The Cambridge School of Weston is a progressive high school for day and boarding students in grades 9–12 and PG. CSW's mission is to provide a progressive education that emphasizes deep learning, meaningful relationships, and a dynamic program that inspires students to discover who they are and what their contribution is to their school, their community and the world.