On December 31, 1999, with 30 minutes left in the millennium, I found myself frantically crazy-gluing my glasses. They had broken moments earlier when I had been hit by a newspaper ball held together with masking tape. My $700 Sarah Palin frameless/rimless glasses had been purchased a year earlier for $35 at a Taiwan night market. The glue-job worked as advertised, and within minutes I rejoined the dodgeball game in my backyard/courtyard. Down to their last player, my team had suffered badly in my absence. My return, however, turned the raging tide. With unstoppable force I triumphantly picked off six opposing players to win the game, ending perhaps the greatest night of my life. Indeed I have lived a full life.
One year later, I stood by my window, surveying the historic battlefield. I could not help but notice that there were two teenage girls in my backyard/courtyard smoking a fat J. One of the two girls, Sarah, I recognized as a student in my Math class. The next day in class, Sarah announced in a whisper, “Mr. Neill, I peeeeeeeed on your lawn”. So there’s that.