Mrs. Ellington a lesson in grammar and Grace

In the center, white pantsuit

I’ll never forget my eighth-grade English teacher, Mrs. Betty Ellington — a truly remarkable woman born in 1916, back when ladies still wore gloves to church and manners were as important as math. By the time I met her, she was what we affectionately called a “blue-haired lady,” though she’d likely have preferred “silvery-haired Southern gentlewoman.” She carried herself with such poise and grace that even her posture seemed to correct ours.

Mrs. Ellington taught in the DeKalb County School System for over forty years, with more than thirty of those right there at Clarkston High School. Most of us owe our command of the English language — and perhaps our tendency to correct others — to her. She was a stickler for grammar, and heaven help you if you ended a sentence with a preposition. She had us memorize all forty-eight of them, pounding them into our teenage brains until we could recite them in our sleep.

I can still rattle off the start of the list: aboard, about, above, across, after, against, along, amid, among, around, at… — and yes, I can still hear her voice echoing, “Keep going, class!” I must’ve driven my poor family crazy, wandering around the house muttering prepositions under my breath like a preacher in a spelling bee revival.

She also made sure we learned the eight parts of speech, diagrammed sentences until our hands cramped, and used only blue, black, or blue-black ink — nothing else would do. You didn’t dare turn in an assignment in pencil or (heaven forbid) green ink unless you were looking for extra homework.

But outside the classroom, Mrs. Ellington revealed a softer, more joyful side — especially at Clarkston Baptist Church. I’ll never forget seeing her at the piano, her perfectly coiffed hair catching the light, her hands gliding across the keys with pure joy. She’d look out at the congregation with the biggest smile on her face, completely at ease and full of the Spirit. The same woman who ran her classroom like the Queen’s Court could let loose in church, beaming as she played hymns that made you want to shout “Amen!”

She had her own brand of Southern elegance — she loved fancy clip-on earbobs (the sparklier, the better), beautiful neck scarves tied just so, and she was a die-hard Georgia Tech fan, bless her heart. You could always count on her to display school spirit in the most ladylike way possible — probably with a gold brooch or a tasteful ribbon.

Mrs. Ellington was the definition of a “gentile Southern lady” — dignified, devoted, and deeply godly. She taught generations of students not only how to write a proper sentence, but how to carry themselves with grace and purpose. She passed away at the age of 92, leaving behind a legacy that lives on in every essay, letter, and grammatically correct Facebook post written by one of her students.

To this day, when I hear someone say “where’s it at,” I can almost feel Mrs. Ellington looking down from heaven, shaking her head with that patient, knowing smile. I like to think she’s still correcting papers up there — in blue-black ink, of course — and maybe playing a few hymns on that heavenly piano between classes.

Dear Lord,

Thank You for the teachers who shape our minds and our hearts. Thank You especially for Mrs. Betty Ellington, who taught us that every word matters — in grammar and in life. May we honor her legacy by speaking with kindness, writing with purpose, and living with the same grace she carried so well.

And if she’s up there grading our work, Lord, please remind her to use a little mercy with that red pen.

Amen.

 

Through

Mrs. Betty Ellington was a blue haired old woman with a heart of gold. A member of my church and a wonderful pianist, she was also my eighth grade English teacher.  To say she loved English would have been an understatement. She lived and breathed English. She wanted the students in her class to love English and to respect it. Like an Army drill sergeant, Mrs. Ellington worked hard to help us grasp the concepts of the English language. Parts of speech were her life. She especially adored prepositions. It's hard to believe, after 45 years, I can still recite most of the 48 prepositions we were required to memorize in her class.

Today, as I was thinking about that long list of prepositions, my focus narrowed on the word, through. I'd recently done a Biblical word study on the word abar, a Greek word meaning through. Abar, pronounced Awbar, is an action word indicating movement. The Hebrew Greek Key Word Study Bible points to Strong's concordance which says abar is a verb meaning to pass over or through, to go beyond, to pass away or leave. I like that.

When I began writing my breast cancer blog, I named it Journey Into Pink. After I completed treatment and began learning how to live my life on the other side of cancer, I moved my posts to a new blog. I named that blog Journey Out of Pink. The name for my current blog is significant and reminds me I'm no longer stuck in the middle of the breast cancer world, I'm moving through it.

Through - a word indicating movement, how appropriate for a Christian's life. God doesn't want us to stay in one place and fail to grow. He also doesn't want us to remain stagnant and die. He wants us to thrive. And that's where I am currently...learning to thrive.

Thrive is a verb, another action word. It indicates doing well, prospering, and growth. For me, it indicates progress. It means I've learned to move from letting cancer dictate every aspect of my life to forgetting what's in the past and pressing forward toward the goal of living life and living it well.

I'm sure Mrs. Ellington would be happy to know prepositions have become such a vital part of my life. I'm thankful she was not only a kind and caring teacher but also a woman after God's own heart. You may have noticed I put some of the prepositions in this post in italics. I wanted to draw your attention to them. Maybe you have one or two prepositions that are special to you! I know I do.