Dedication Speech

CN: Good afternoon. My name is Cheryl Nolan.

MB: And I'm Marti Blair. We were Jessie's classroom teachers during, her, third, fourth and fifth grade years at Breakwater School. Thank you Cindy and Dan, for asking us to speak today. We are honored to have an opportunity to share our memories of your wonderful daughter during this celebration.

CN: One of the things we remember most about Jessie was the way she so fully lived her life. Author Annie Dillard may not have known Jessie Bullens-Crewe, but the youth she describes in her book, An American Childhood reminds us so completely of Jessie. Dillard wrote: "What can we make of the inexpressible joy of children? It is a kind of gratitude, I think—the gratitude of the child who wakes to her own energy and the brisk challenge of the world. There was joy in concentration, and the world afforded an inexhaustible wealth of projects to concentrate on. There was joy in effort, and the world resisted effort to just the right degree, and yielded to it at last." This was Jessie—joyful, energized, fully in her world.

MB: In our classrooms we are surrounded by poetry—we read poetry, write poetry, and memorize poetry. Each morning during our Centering time, a student reads a poem aloud. Sometimes two students share a "Poem for Two Voices," a poem that is read as a duet, or shared reading by two people. We have chosen to present our piece of today's program as a reading for two voices, because it is through the power of our joined hearts and voices that our message resonates.

CN: Jessie loved poetry, and was single-handedly responsible for the poem "Cows" becoming our class "signature poem." Her poetry was a reflection of herself—funny, insightful, playful, sensitive. Here are two poems Jessie wrote.

MB: This is a form of poetry called the two-word poem where every line has two words. It's called "Stupid Puppy."

Nipping, jumping
Gorged stomach,
Eating grass,
Tackling snow,
What d'ya know?
It's Echo.

CN: This is a form of poetry called the Cinquain, which uses nouns and verbs in a given 5-line pattern. It speaks of something Jessie watched with wonder every autumn.

Leaves
Falling, fluttering
Changing, growing, separating
They're always changing colors
Leaves

MB: We'd like to share some memories that come to mind when we think of Jessie. My first memory is a meeting that took place in the summer of 1991. I was asked to come in to meet a new family who was interested in enrolling their daughter in our fourth grade class. It was the Bullens-Crewes, they were moving here from Connecticut and were checking out schools. That fourth grader was our wonderful student, Reid. I remember a bright, beautiful summer day, standing outside in the sunshine, talking with Reid the golden girl while her little sister Jessie the red sprite bounced all up and down, over, around, and through us.

Reid wrote this Cinquain poem about Jessie that fall:

Sister
Cute, smart
Running, playing, smiling
I love her. She protects me.
Jessie

MB & CN: We remember Jessie bouncing.

CN: One of the joys of teaching is being able to share children's lives—their struggles, their triumphs, their developing and unique views of the world. Children pass through our lives, taking with them—we hope—something of us, and gifting us with some of themselves. I remember a giggle that couldn't be muffled, bubbling into a full-fledged belly laugh during writing class. It was Jessie, of course. "I don't remember picking up this pencil!" she hooted, "It just appeared in my hand! I'm magic!" Caught up in Jessie's glee, we all shared a moment of utter hilarity. One of Jessie's most precious gifts to me was her irrepressible sense of fun.

MB & CN: We remember Jessie laughing

MB: My next memory is Jessie in the spring of her first grade year. It's the French festival, and all the little first graders in Lisa Ratte's class clamber up on the old stage that was the predecessor to this one. They all stand in a line frozen, scared stiff, and basically mouth the words. Except for one little red-haired drama queen, who threw out her arms and belted forth those lines like a miniature Ethel Merman. How perfect that Jessie's legacy is a new performance space. Her spirit and memory are, for me, truly up on this stage.

MB & CN: We remember Jessie dramatizing.

CN: Jessie's smile lit up our classrooms, our lives. She was the eternal optimist, an "Ain't life grand?" kind of kid. I remember her sun bright, beautiful hair and how we all worried how its loss after chemotherapy might affect her. But Jessie, as always, had something to teach us. Our class was quiet, everyone was reading. I glanced over at Jessie, saw her take off a knit cap she'd been wearing recently, and look into it. She ran her hand through her hair, looked into the cap again, and said, "Wow!" I could see lots of red hair in that cap. "Look at this!" she said to her friends at the table. The, whole class stopped and looked at Jessie, unsure how to react. "Hey Mrs. Nolan," she called out, that rich laughter filling her voice, "Look! I'm shedding!"

MB & CN: We remember Jessie finding silver linings.

MB: The last memory I have to share is from before Jessie got sick. Our class rides a bus to the Portland YMCA on Fridays for physical education class and I was sitting with Jessie one bright winter afternoon. I can see her silhouetted against the bus window as she shared with me her feelings of sadness about some things she was dealing with. I remember the sense I had of the window she had opened for me into her soul, juxtaposed against that window on the world. It was a private moment in a public place that I cherish in my memory.

MB & CN: We remember Jessie sorrowing
and we remember Jessie singing.

MB: Jessie
CN: Bullens-Crewe
MB: vibrant
CN: fiery
MB: red
CN: funny
MB: curious
CN: strong
MB: bold
CN: contentious
MB: courageous
CN: compassionate
MB: humorous
CN: whales
MB: cows

CN: Jessie
MB: Bullens-Crewe
CN: problem-solver
MB: athlete
CN: organizer
MB: actor
CN: dancer
MB: dreamer
CN: crusader
MB: nature-lover
CN: artist

MB: Jessie
CN: Bullens-Crewe
MB: caring
CN: questioning
MB: arguing
CN: belly-laughing
MB: hoping
CN: running
MB: jumping
CN: sparkling
MB: flaming

MB & CN: Jessie Bullens-Crewe Living

CN: We would like to close with more help from author Annie Dillard. "For it is not you or I that is important, neither what sort we might be nor how we came to be each where we are."

MB: "What is important is anyone's coming awake and discovering a place, finding in full orbit a spinning globe one can lean over, catch, and jump on.

CN: "What is important is the moment of opening a life and feeling it touch—with an electric hiss and cry—this speckled mineral sphere, our present world."

MB & CN: Jessie Bullens-Crewe
She touched us. We miss her.
Thank you.