Walter's Daughter

From Anna Ogden Jenkins’ journal

My father, Walter Ogden, was one of those people who seem to have friends everywhere. The banker wasn't just the banker, he was a neighbor, albeit from across town, whose name he knew and whose father he knew. The owner of the hardware store Dad knew from boyhood, of course, but he also knew whether he could depend on him to have a high or low mark-up on the tools he sold. And, he knew the principal of the school we all attended. Miss Goldbranson had been there a long time, and her memory was as long as my Dad's. For his part, my father wanted me to grow up to be a teacher and prove something to Miss Goldbranson, I think. I did grow up to be a teacher, and I did get my first job in Miss Goldbranson's school. I remember that the first time she realized I was going to be one of her teachers, and I was Walter Odgen's daughter, she was incredulous.

"Not Walter's daughter!" she said. "Why, I surely remember your father as a boy in this school. Just to think that his daughter is back to teach here!" shaking her head in disbelief.

You can be sure that I was determined to be a teacher she could be proud of. Of course, my Dad had already gained his triumph.