Remember sitting in class toward the end of the day, just waiting for that final school bell to ring so you could escape those white sterile classroom walls? The hallways would fill up with bustling students, after-school conversation and the sound of locker doors slamming closed on yet another day.

Spring Valley School was different. It was a one-room schoolhouse that used to sit up the road from our house. And it only had one chiming clock. My great grandparents taught at this school, and I’m sure the kids back then were just the same – waiting on that old clock to tick away those final minutes – and looking forward with anticipation for the school clock chime.

I also have an old school desk from that schoolhouse. On its wooden seat is inscribed: Hi. It’s just the past, stopping in to say hello, reminding me not to waste the time between the alarm clock and the final schoolhouse bell.

Until we walk again …