Mayor Seeman passed away on February 24, 2013.
This piece was printed shortly afterward in the Body Grace's March newsletter.
Miss Jane
was Nicole’s, my oldest daughter’s, first preschool teacher at the Vienna
Community Center. I had just given birth to my second daughter, Allison, in the
fall of 1988 and Nicole started attending shortly before then; she was 2-1/2
years old.
Nicole
loved wearing dresses. One hectic morning she picked out a red jumper that my
mom had made for her, a white blouse, cute frilly white socks and her black
patent leather Mary Jane shoes, and off we went to drop her off at preschool.
As always Miss Jane was there to welcome everyone at the door so I dropped
Nicole off and came home looking forward to putting Allison and me down for a
nap, but as I walked by Nicole’s bedroom door I noticed something sitting on
her bed. What I found, after further inspection, was her underpants. Yes, I had
just sent my fancy dressed daughter to preschool commando style!
Mortified,
I frantically grabbed Nicole’s underpants, placed Allison back into her car
seat, and drove back to the community center.
I peeked in the window on the preschool door, caught Miss Jane’s eye and
waved for her to come out. Once she
stepped out into the hallway, I told her how embarrassed I was to have sent
Nicole to school without the proper undergarments, and in a down-to-earth,
non-judgmental way this is what she said to me: “You know Mrs. Crerie, Nicole
was really distressed at the beginning of class and when I asked her what the
problem was, she told me that her Mommy had forgotten to put underpants on her.
I told her I would give you a call to bring some to her, and that sometimes
Mommies forget things, especially when there is a new baby in the house, but in
the meantime, until you could get here, to just keep her legs together.” I
smiled – how could you not – nodded, thanked her for calming Nicole down, and
her good advice. When I glanced into the room, sure enough, while all the other
kids were sitting crossed-legged in their share circle, Nicole was sitting very
calmly with her legs straight out, glued shut. I took Nicole to the restroom, put
on her underpants, and I apologized to her for my forgetfulness, as well as for
any future issues I may have caused, which at the time she probably did not
understand. To this day Nicole has very
fond memories of being in Miss Jane’s preschool class for two years. Yes, she
does remember being distaught about not having underpants on, however she did
forgive me, and I can attribute that to the sweet way in which Miss Jane
handled the situation.
Fast
forward twenty something years later and as I am unlocking the studio door one
afternoon, Mayor Jane drives up to drop off her granddaughter for a teen yoga
class. We chatted for a moment and she asked about my daughters, which I was so
impressed by. I told her that Nicole is a mom now, and we both agreed that time
flies by too quickly but that being a grandparent is wonderful! Jane asked me
how my business was doing. She truly cared about the success of the small
businesses in the community, and I for one, appreciated that. I will miss Jane
Seeman. She loved Vienna, and it showed. When I think of her, I will not only
think of Mayor Jane Seeman, a woman who believed in a strong community, but I
will also fondly remember Miss Jane, a caring, kind and compassionate preschool
teacher, who helped a little girl and a young mother through an awkward
situation.
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