"Look, Mr. Solomon. I Can Start a Sentence with a Conjunction Now."
By
Susan Gable
In my sophomore year of high school, I had an English teacher named Mr. Solomon. Unfortunately for Mr. Solomon, he had a tough act to follow - my freshman English teacher, Mr. Furce. Mr. Furce gave me an extremely solid foundation as far as grammar and the English language goes. I actually liked diagramming sentences and learning all the parts of speech.
Another student and I often got into loud debates with Mr. Solomon about whether a particular word was this or that, debates that were sometimes interrupted with one or both of us storming out of the classroom to go and "check with Mr. Furce!"
But it wasn't all bad. Mr. Solomon grudgingly tolerated our antics. He kept a jar of sourballs in the top drawer of his desk. He nicknamed me "Miss Colgate 1980" when handing out the class pictures, which, of course, he had to hold each one up and comment on. I could have done far worse than "Miss Colgate."
The one issue we went round and round on was starting sentences with conjunctions in creative writing pieces. He told me repeatedly not to do it. I told him I understood that it was "a rule" but that published authors did it all the time in books. And I should know, I certainly read enough of them. Mr. Solomon told me when I was a published author, I could do it, too. Back then, I was a voracious reader, but the idea of becoming a "real writer" had never occurred to me.
Mr. Solomon died while I was in college.
This month I held my first romance novel in my hands. I caressed the cover. Flipped through the pages. Saw words I knew by heart. I was totally blown away. And yet, it somehow still held this surreal quality. This was my book. I'd written it. Between the front and back covers were my words.
With a wry smile, I lifted the book aloft and spoke towards the ceiling. "Look, Mr. Solomon. I can start a sentence with a conjunction now."
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