Dedicated to Mrs. Dubois

Since Lincoln and I went to the same high school, we both share similar high school memories. Some of those memories include the same teacher, the late Mrs. Dubois, who we both had (two years apart) for our 11th grade Honors English class. While some of Lincoln's memories include making movies for extra credit with his friends for Mrs. Dubois's class, he also gained a love and understanding, as I did, for words penned by Emerson and Thoreau.   

So when Lincoln and I were driving through Massachusetts, we were happy to be able to pay tribute to the great men, whose words have inspired us. 

And of course we thought of Mrs. Dubois the entire time. 

{Recounting instances of visiting Walden Pond with his wife, Elder Tom Perry emphasized the spiritual benefits of a simplified lifestyle}

Lincoln and I both agree that this place is Heavenly. 

And a great place to think. 

One of the sadder pieces of literature we read in Mrs. Dubois' class was the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller.  It's based on the Salem witch trials in Salem, MA.  Being so close we had to stop by.  

The first stop was the old house of John Proctor.  He didn't believe the witch stories from the beginning and told everyone the cure was a good whipping.  Soon the girls turned on him, declaring him to be a witch...

We then went to the Salem Witch Museum.  They did a summary of the Salem Witch Trials and then told us how thousands of years ago witches were more like wise women in the community who knew about herbs and healing and such.  Eventually that turned into our green-skinned, long-nosed, broom-riding friends of today.  It was all very interesting.

In the witch museum they had life-sized diaramas depicting parts of the witch trials.  This diarama above is how the executed the witches.  In all 19 people were hanged for being witches (including John Proctor), and one man was pressed to death (slowly crushed with rocks) for not entering a plea.  It was a sad moment in our nation's history, and very sobering to visit the museum.  

It was a lot of fun to see the places we learned about in English class for ourselves.  We had a wonderful teacher, Mrs. Dubois,  that brought it to life for us.

  Our friend, Kristy, also wrote a sweet memory about Mrs. Dubois, that is worth your time to read.