It was Tuesday, February 14, 1967. Valentine’s Day in my kindergarten classroom. It was going to be an exciting day. Cards from friends, and special treats. We were sitting in our seats after morning work, and the teacher Sr. Jean showed us 2 paper bags. One had “girls” written on it, and the other had “boys”. There was candy inside, and we were told to take one piece without looking and place it on our desk. Every girl who picked a candy got a yellow wrapped hard candy. I was so happy in anticipation because lemon was my favorite flavor, and yellow was my best color. A win-win! Only when it came my turn I reached in and pulled out a green candy. I sat waiting for any other girl in our class to pull out any other color…red?, orange?, or green like mine, but it did not happen. Every other girl had a lemon yellow candy. And here I was stuck with this ugly green candy, lime or worse mint! Who even knew? Then my attention turned to the boys who happened to be picking candy now….. all green. What was happening? clearly a mistake! My 5 year old self tried to make sense of this. Did Sr. Jean think I was a boy? Did God think I was a boy? (catholic school). Then I saw him. Michael was holding a lemon yellow candy. MY lemon yellow candy!! He had a similar look on his face as I did, although I can’t know what he was thinking. Just as I was ready to raise my hand and let Sr. Jean know about the accidental switch of sweets, she announced to the class that the girl and boy who got the opposite candy come to the front of the classroom. There we were given crowns to wear that were covered in red hearts and glitter. King and Queen of hearts for Valentine’s Day. Michael didn’t care about yellow candy, and he traded with me. I actually think that made me happier than being Queen.

The life lesson that day was sometimes what you think is a problem, is really a blessing. Lost on my little self that day (I think the devastation is what made me remember so vividly), but a tale told to many in my future. Lemon is still my favorite flavor, but blue is now my best color.