Dear Draper James Teacher,
This time last year teachers were relegated to house arrest. I distinctly remember moving from the couch to the recliner and getting so exhausted from the migration that I had to lie down for a nap. The highlight of the day was checking the mail and talking to Cynthia who was so faithful to inquire about my car’s extended warranty every single day at the 11 o’clock hour.
During teacher appreciation week last year two events stoked my joy. The first was a drive thru Zaxby’s meal pick up at my school, a school I had not seen in six weeks at that point. I waved and smiled at colleagues through the windshield of my car and rolled down my window two inches to squeeze my hand through the slot long enough to grab a Big Zax snack from an administrator in a Hazmat suit.
Some people will go to desperate lengths to make others feel special.
Besides administrators, Reese Witherspoon is one of those folks. The Draper James phenomenon where Reese Witherspoon vowed to gift every teacher in the U.S. a designer dress from her clothing line was the second event that thrilled my soul.
Her gesture of appreciation for weary and displaced teachers was dang near one of the nicest acts of generosity I have ever witnessed.
What sweet Reese Cup could not have anticipated was having no place to go did not keep 6,435,900 teachers from feeling like they still needed a pretty dress.
Thirty-two seconds later, Reese was issuing a formal apology about being unable to meet the demands.
I saw it coming before she did.
I don’t know her children personally, but I am sure she plans to send them to college at some point. Over six million dresses at over $100 a pop can deplete the funds of even a celebrity pretty dang quickly.
I am not knocking Reese. It’s not her fault that she doesn’t understand teachers will accept anything, literally anything, if it is free. Used napkin? Bent bobby pin? Smashed Twinkie? Is it free? I’ll take it.
All of this to say, I am no Reese Witherspoon, so I cannot fund every teacher’s Draper James dress. Unlike Reese, I know my limits. I also know full-well what Percy Sledge meant when he sang, “Young girls they do get weary wearing that same old, shaggy dress.”
My guess is many teachers’ dresses are getting a little shaggy by now. It has been a tough year. You have faithfully stuck with reading my blogs even on your exhausted days and you have powered through the unimaginable with a smile nobody could even see.
Above all, you have continued to show up day after day.
Let it be known I love teachers as much, or maybe even more, than Reese does.
Maybe you can guess what I am hinting at here.
If not, let me be clear, the first person to send me your size, home address, and a link to your favorite Draper James dress as a private facebook message will have a door delivery within the next couple of weeks.
Don’t worry I won’t post your name. I’ll simply send you a private return message to let you know you are the lucky recipient.
Sure wish it could be all of you. Maybe one day it can be.
But for today, who’s the lucky gal?
-CDB