Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.
Issue link: https://loumag.epubxp.com/i/669874
LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 5.16 37 heartsone-mc.com (502) 935-3300 • heartsong-mc.com 9260 Stonestreet Rd. • Louisville, KY 40272 • Specializing in Memory Care (Dementia, Alzheimer's) • Licensed Health Care, Licensed Nurses • Residential Community and Adult Daycare Program on Campus • Short-term Respite Stays Available • Locally Owned & Operated "A FRIEND knows the song in your HEART and sings it to you when you've forgotten the words" neat penmanship to boot: "I predict the balloon is going to pop!" (He also has one of the most descriptive narratives about springtime hanging in the hallway: "In spring it is windy and the bird is singing. Tornaydos happin in spring and it rains in spring. Flower grow in spring. Bees fy in spring. Te sun is shining. Baby come in spring.") A boy behind him struggles to write more than "I p," even though Gray has "I predict" written in big blue ink on a white board. It will be summer soon. Gray will cup chins and hug shoulders and say 24 goodbyes. Ten, she will worry. Not just because all she's taught may fade. Much more than that. She worries some might sit in front of the TV. She worries a few might not eat enough healthy dinners or drink plenty of milk or listen to bedtime stories. She knows that some parents, for whatever reason, just can't be present all the time. So they depend on the teacher and school to lift a child academically, even socially. But if there's one thing Gray could broadcast into households, megaphone- style, it would be this: "Home support is essential. Some of my lowest-performing kids have made progress because I talked to their parents and they're doing more at home than they would have." Gray has technically only been teaching for 11 years. But really, it's been since she was about fve years old. "I would teach a class of stufed animals, my brother and sister, neighborhood kids," she recalls. "Anyone who would listen." And yet, memories of her kindergarten experience are vague: cheese and crackers at snack time, maybe listening to a book on tape. What was the name of her teacher? No clue. But one memory from that era remains hyper-vivid: Gray standing on her twin bed, plucking books from built-in bookshelves framing a window (Dr. Seuss was a favorite), then burrowing under covers so her mom could read her to sleep in her silly character voices. Gray savored the attention, often interrupting mid- sentence to talk about the story, look at the pictures. Mom managed a few more words. Gray or her brother or sister popped in with another question. Mom's fngers would reach for the corner of the page, about to fip it. Ready now? Yes.