Everyone Needs a Mrs. Bailey

Foreward ................................................................. 3

Preface..................................................................... 5

Introduction............................................................ 9

Prologue................................................................ 10

Part I .................................................................... 11

My Birth ............................................................... 12

Married................................................................. 14

Not Married.......................................................... 19

Uncle John............................................................ 23

Who am I? ............................................................ 27

Third-grade Breakdown......................................... 29

Ellenboro .............................................................. 31

Fourth Grade ........................................................ 37

Peeping Holes and Glass Doors............................. 38

Fifth Grade............................................................ 41

Hope out of Pain................................................... 43

Bartender and Orange Juice .................................. 47

Clothesline............................................................ 48

Mrs. Frances Bailey ............................................... 51

Ice Cream.............................................................. 56

Eighth Grade......................................................... 58

Weekends.............................................................. 61

Back to Sroufe....................................................... 63

Leaving ................................................................. 66

(Not the) Final Chapter......................................... 74

Thanksgiving Visit................................................. 77

Back to Virginia Beach .......................................... 79

Lessons in Love..................................................... 84

Music.................................................................... 90

High School Teachers............................................ 92

Graduating into the Real World ............................ 96

Some Things Change,

and Some Things Stay the Same............................ 99

Maureen Melia .................................................... 103

U.S. Air Force..................................................... 105

My Mother Finally Leaves John........................... 108

Becoming a Father............................................... 110

My Father's Passing.............................................. 118

Ralph Jr............................................................... 123

Moving Forward with My Mother....................... 126

John's Death........................................................ 129

Photos................................................................. 130

Part II.................................................................. 149

Teaching.............................................................. 150

Radford University .............................................. 158

Meadows of Dan Elementary .............................. 160

Woolwine Elementary ......................................... 163

Division Superintendent ..................................... 165

Takeaways ........................................................... 174

Retrospect ........................................................... 177