The English Teachers

I recently learned that they had set up awards in memory of two of my English teachers, Fr. Cornelius Pineau (junior high school) and Fr. Daniel Clifford (senior year).  When I heard the news, memories of youth came like a bolt of lightning, flooding me with mixed emotions.  Happy (those were great times), sad (I miss the both of them), lucky and privileged (they don't make teachers like they used to).  I distinctly remember the experience of being under these two lovable priests, a welcome honor.  "Tip of tongue to tip of teeth," Fr. Pineau would remind us when we'd pronounce "th" as "d," and we'd spend hours analyzing sentence structure with the use of diagrams (I don't think English teachers do this anymore).  This kind Canadian would often catch me sleeping in class, but he never got mad.  Instead, he would look at me like a grandfather would, and would merely send me to the lavatory to wash my face for a second wind.  Fr. Clifford. the American, was a tad stricter, and I remember him telling us that staying in the Philippines for so long had gotten his accent off, such that every time he'd return to the States, his relatives would complain, "Gee Dan, you talk funny!"  Both lovable teachers, devoted priests, and kind gentlemen.  Awards for outstanding faculty, named after two of the best of the best!