Playing Hookey and Meeting Bill Clinton

Here is another snippet from my meandering thoughts..I was watching the news and thought of the day that I met President Bill Clinton. I have to say that if I had to pick one person whom I was most excited about meeting, it would be President Clinton. Joe heard that Clinton would be doing a book reading at Book People, which is a book store in Austin, TX. I was teaching English at Del Valle High School, and I was scheduled to teach that day. I decided to play hookey. I called in sick, and took a day off. Joe and I headed to the book store and arrived there at right before midnight, as we anticipated that the line would be ridiculously long . I was first at the door. Yes, it was midnight. We sat down on the cement, and stayed there all night till the store opened in the morning. I was number one in line...I would only do this for a few people ...Tom Waits and Johnny Cash would definitely be two of them...Well, the store opened, and the line that had formed was so long that it extended for blocks, but I was first in line. They let the first group of people in. I had the voucher for Clinton's book My Life in my hand, and I was so excited. The man who had led me in then asked me how I landed up being the first in line. I said that Joe and I had been out there since right before midnight. Well, he told me that since I was first in line, I was going to be the first person to meet Clinton. I couldn't believe it! I was being directed up the stairs to where Clinton was giving a speech to the media...Oh my God, the press was there! The man then told Clinton that I was first in line and told him how long I had waited outside. I saw cameras flashing, and I realized that they were taking pics of all of this. It then came into my mind that I was playing hookey and had called in sick. I told the news people that I was playing hookey and not to print that. How stupid was that! Of course they were going to print just that. I went up and shook the President's hand...It was so exciting to have him smile at me. I told him that my husband wanted me to thank him for all that he did for Ireland. He clasped his hand to his heart, giving a sort of Roman salute, and said, "That meant a lot to me." Then President Clinton gave me a signed First Edition of his book My Life. I could hardly breathe as I was being directed downstairs again with the book in my hand. Well, as you can imagine, the story was on page one of the Austin American Statesman paperm and it was titled "Teacher from Del Valle HS Plays Hookey to Meet the President". The picture that I have included was plastered right there on the first page. Boy, was I in trouble, but it was exciting anyhow. I went to school and the principal called me over the public address system to come down to his office. He smiled as I entered, and said that he would have done the same if he had known , and that was it. I had met the former President of the United States, and was given special audience with him...That is a memory that I will cherish forever.