Around two years ago, in early October, I received a phone call from Giz. He told me Nestor was in town. Giz wanted to arrange a visit with Mr. Mederos, Nestor’s dad, and our math teacher. I loved the idea and we arranged to meet at Mr. Mederos’s house at a certain time. Fabio, Rocky, Giz, and Moose were going to say hello to two old friends: Nestor Mederos and Nestor Mederos.
I began thinking about our days in LaSalle. I also wanted to ask Mr. Mederos a question. It had been bothering me for a long time.
The day arrived and Fabio called. He was not going to be able to go due to health issues. Little did I know that would be the last time I would speak to Fabio. Then Gizmo called. He had another commitment. He could not go. Both of them were disappointed. I know they both wanted to go spend some time with both Nestors.
Rocky and I met outside the house. Then we called Nestor and he came out to greet us. We both went inside the house and Mr. Mederos was there. He was looking amazing! It was a real pleasure seeing an old friend.
The house was a nice house, very comfortable. We sat in the living room. Someone commented about the artwork. I had been to Mr. Mederos’s homes, both in the Roads and in Coral Gables and did not remember that much artwork. They looked like Lladrós, lots of Lladrós. Lourdes and I had recently purchased one and they were pricey. Mr. Mederos said they may look like Lladrós, but they are not. They are actually Mederós. He and Nestor said that since he had retired, he had to find something to do so he took up art. I was impressed. Nestor was proud of his dad. They showed me some of the sculptures. I am not an art critic, but I thought they were really good. Nestor then said that he also has paintings. We went to another room, a studio, and he showed notebooks full of watercolor paintings. Some were works in progress. There was one I particularly liked of two young girls, I guess around six years old each, they looked like sisters. They may have been the same girls but with different expressions. I liked the expressions on their faces. We then sat down in the living room. We continued talking. We each spoke a little bit about ourselves and our families. Nestor talked about the time that his mom discovered he was the opening act for Julio Iglesias. Mr. Mederos smiled as they were reminiscing. I was most curious about Mr. Mederos. After he left LaSalle, he went to teach in a school in Miami Lakes. He really liked to teach those kids because he was serving a good purpose. Those children really needed him. He felt like he made a real difference in that school. We kept talking about other interesting things. I told him that when I teach my classes about anything involving the Pythagorean Theorem, I remember him fondly. I also pronounce it as the Peetagorean Theorem. My students usually laugh at the way I say it. I tell them because that is the way I learned it. That is the way it should be pronounced. They usually do not realize I am just messing with them. They think I learned that in the old country. We then spoke about the treasured reward for an educator; to be a positive influence in someone’s life. A couple of times Mr. Mederos told Nestor “Mira a ver si hay algo para servirle a los muchachos” (Check to see what we can serve the boys). That really reminded me of the days when a group of us were studying at his house. He would say that to Nestor and Ms. Mederos. Brought back good memories. Also do you know how long it has been that someone refers to me as a “muchacho”?
I had heard of Mr. Mederos long before I had met him. He was my brother’s and sister’s math teacher in ILS. He remembered my sister, Teresa even now. His family lived on 26th road, right next to Sts Peter and Paul. I used to deliver newspapers and would pass by his house in my bicycle every day to go to my paper route. I of course knew Nestor very well. I met Mr. Mederos in Geometry Class in the seven hundred building. He was a nice man, more comfortable speaking in Spanish, but fluent in English. He was easy to listen to. He had studied law in the old country. At times he had a certain way of saying things with a certain smile and I did not know whether he was being serious or just messing with you. He made geometry fun. Well at least I know I had a blast. I am being serious about that. Occasionally, he would assign a problem for us to solve. Usually, it was some kind of proof. Then he would say Extra Points! I remember me, Rocky, Gizmo and Fabio frantically trying to work it out. The first couple of students who would get the answer would get a + 2 in red in their notebook. Sometimes he would give you three points. One time I got five points. I never did get seven. It would have had to be a difficult problem. At the end of the grading period, he would tally the extra points and he would add it to your grades. For proud nerds like me that was important. It made the class fun. I looked forward to going to his class. The extra points helped. I try to emulate that in the introductory Chemistry Classes in College. More important than the extra points were that we did not want to disappoint him. We wanted to impress him. Subsequently I also took Algebra 2 with him, I was happy to be in his class.
I wanted to ask Mr. Mederos a question. It had been bothering me for a long time. I was finally going to get the chance. I did so when we were walking back from the studio to the living room. It was in 1974; I was taking Algebra 2. We were taking the final exam. I completed the exam early. And, to help a friend who, I shall not name, I passed my scrap paper with my notes from the exam back to my friend. He was struggling to finish the exam. I went to the front and handed in my exam. A few minutes later Mr. Mederos asked me: “Ramon where is your scrap paper.” I did not know what to do. So, I said something very loudly like: “So you are asking for my scrap paper" kind of imitating Agent 8. I said it again and my friend who had the scrap paper slipped the paper into the crevice between his desk and the back of my chair. Somehow the air currents played tricks on us, and the paper very slowly, ever so slowly floated down, swinging back and forth, between the two rows of desks. I snatched it while it was still in midair. The paper was floating right in front of Mr. Mederos. I then gave the paper to Mr. Mederos. There is no way Mr. Mederos could have missed that. He knew what was happening but purposely ignored it. After all these years I finally was going to ask him the question. Did he know I helped someone cheat? I asked him if he remembered that. I asked him if he knew that I had given the student behind me paper so he could copy it. Mr. Mederos said no he did not remember. I dropped the topic. I did not want to remind him. Did not want to disappoint him.
We continued talking for a couple of hours. I and Mr. Mederos talked about teaching and the “new methods of teaching.” After a little while, Rocky and I decided to bid our farewells; it was getting late. Just before we got up and took a picture of the group, Mr. Mederos said to me quietly so only I could hear him: “Estoy muy orgulloso de ti”
That must be worth at least seventy times seven extra points.
Thank you, Mr. Mederos. Thank you for all you did for us and being a wonderful example to all of us.
Fight on!
-Moose
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