Welcome to Baltimore

He called me name as we passed each other at the football game, and then the tall, goateed, brown-skinned young man grabbed me and gave me a big bear hug, eschewing my outstretched handshake. I only recognized him a little and he must have noticed my confusion, because he asked if I remembered him. I could hear disappointment.

This kind of experience is both the best and the worst for teachers. I love to see my old students, but I've now taught or coached nearly 2000 kids -- give or take -- and my mind can barely remember where my keys are. I recognize their faces, but the names don't always come.

And then he grinned. I asked him what year he graduated, and he told me '04, and then it became clear - "First base. Taylor _____" and I had it! Take away the goatee and add some braids to his hair and this was my first baseman the first and second years I was the Assistant Coach of the baseball team. When I became head coach, his senior year, he was injured, so he never officially played for me as head coach. But I remembered him well -- his tall and lanky frame, his quick left-handed bat, his excitement over my opening speech as head coach, when I asserted that we would beat our big rival school (I was right, although it took us six years from that point to do it).

So he's doing great, with a degree in Civil Engineering from Morgan State and a good job in DC, plus some real estate development in Baltimore. A success story. After hearing about him, I told him about the story I remember most about him. I think about this almost almost every time I'm at this intersection of Cold Spring and Falls Rd:

His Junior year, when I was still Assistant Coach, he had a test last period and couldn't make the team bus. I volunteered to drive him over to the game after his test; he would still be able to make it by around 3:30 (game time is at 3:45) if we did it this way. On the way, stopped at a stoplight, someone approached his side of the car. Neither of us were suited up in our uniforms yet. He asked him a couple of questions and I didn't really understand what was happening (I would know now, after close watching of The Wire, what it was). As we drove up, he broke out laughing, then got a little annoyed. "That man was trying to buy weed from us!" He added, "Yo, just because a kid got braids and is with a white man doesn't mean he's a drug dealer!"

And that was one of my "Welcome to Baltimore" moments.

He didn't remember the story at all. LOL.

All in all, it was a great day -- saw lots of former students, all of whom seem to be doing well. I guess this is why I do what I do, to see what they all end up becoming.