Trembling (and I am!)

     First post, and trembling.  In memory, I write.    

     Jan Berenstain died last Friday, so my inbox tells me when I open a message from Reading Is Fundamental.  On that day, I was writing about her or about the dynamic Bear-creating duo, in response to one of my student’s entries about the disputed value of television.  (Does anyone else have to read some fairly uninspired persuasive entries?  When they write about why they should have an iPhone, they approach brilliance.  Perhaps that will show up this year on state testing in memory of Steve Jobs?)  I know I have never written about Jan Berenstain to anyone before while grading their eighth grade notebooks, but I did on the day she died.  What are the odds?  Do you ever feel that there are so many connections we deny? 

My son, hard to believe that he is now 23, used to love those Bears!  We would read Too Much Television and pose the question every now and then, “My habit or my choice?”  Bless you, Jan (and Stan).  You are a slice of my life.