I am a leading edge member of the baby boomer generation

I am a leading edge member of the baby boomer generation. When I should have gone to kindergarten at age 5, there was a shortage of room and teachers so – no kindergarten. I started first grade at Edwards Elementary in September, 1952, going half days. I remember Dick and Jane, coloring and the taste of paste. I liked the sharp scissors better than the blunt nosed ones. My teacher was Mrs. Neal. We sat in an arrangement of four desks in a quad. The little redheaded girl (reminiscent of Charlie Brown) who sat across from me often wore a red sweater. Years later I was a soccer referee in Houston. I was assigned to do a women’s league game one Sunday afternoon. There was a redheaded woman on one of the teams that looked remarkably like my desk mate from first grade. At half time I approached her and asked if she went to first grade in Beaumont. We soon established that she was, indeed, my desk mate. I probably got her name, but do not recall.