Kelley Connell
Mrs. Orth & Rebecca, I’m a de facto member of Dover High’s Class of ‘82. From Kindergarten to October of my Sophomore year I was a student of the Capital School District. In the fall of 1979 my stepfather’s employment moved our family to Dallas so I only had the privilege of being in Mr. Orth’s class twice ~ 5th grade & 8th. I was invited to attend my class’ 20 year reunion in June of 2002. There, I learned I’d unfortunately missed the opportunity for a 3rd year of his tutelage in high school but…. But…. There was not a single dry eye in the house when he spoke at our reunion via video address… In his Navy whites, arms crossed behind him at the wrist, standing in front of the Pentagon… I can’t attest to anything he said verbatim, perhaps because we were crying through it all, but I am certain he told us to be strong, we are resilient, and This Country Is Worth Fighting For.
A couple of days later I sent a letter in the mail to your house. And only a couple of days after that HE CALLED ME! Mr. Orth remembered me and CALLED ME! He’d come home from D.C. just for the weekend yet he afforded me a good 45 minutes to an hour on the telephone. I have no doubt he remembers us all but for him to gift me in that way with so much of him time…. That’s who he was, right?
That phone call was 20 years AGO and by that time I’d already been singing his praises for at least that long! Mr. Orth didn’t simply Tell us about about the Mayflower, Plymouth Rock, The Old North Church, that hill in Salem where they burned “witches’ at the stake ~ HE TOOK US THERE! And made us learn to pitch really big tents while he was at it. Speaking of that hill, fellow student Donna M. was running back down it, slipped, scraped her knee super bad and we all had to wait at the bottom that hill while she was taken away for stitches. And we were standing in Paul Revere’s side yard (where his well was) when Jimmy M. bent over to pick up a stick or something and darn near poked his eye out on the hook that was fashioned there to hang a bucket while you were pumping water to bring inside. Paul Revere’s Bucket Hook! You don’t “get’ this stuff from a textbook ~ you’ve gotta walk The Freedom Trail to really “feel” it all.
Obviously it was too much for even James Orth to take us all to the Orient to “feel” what went on with Explorers prior to “discovery” of The New World, but I can still see and hear him in front of the classroom conveying this to us. Imagine Santa Clause clutching his belly and saying ‘Ho-Ho-Ho.’ Now imagine Mr. Orth portraying a European Royal deciding to fund one of these early expeditions to the East ~ except he’s in front of the room clutching his abdominal area and saying “Ha Ha Ha! SPICES !!! Yes, Silk is very very nice too, but you better bring back SPICE for my food!” One doesn’t “get that” from a textbook. Mr. Orth made sure we got it from HIM.
I wanted to talk to him again. I NEED to talk to him again. My plan was to write a letter first, asking if I could cry on his shoulder and ask for guidance. I have long feared the day that I would look him up again and find an obituary. Per his wishes I promptly opened up the Bible to the Book of James, and there it was; the last line of Chapter 5 Verse 16: The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man will availeth much.
I didn’t have to be told that sincere prayers are heard, nor that we can talk to our departed loved one’s at any time. But this passage puts together the answer I sought: I’ll pray “Mr. Orth, How do save our Country now? I am so terribly scared. Please steer me in the right direction. What do we do now/‘