Jani Edwards Jani Edwards has trouble remembering life before high school. That’s because, for Mrs. Edwards, high school lasted 38 years -- with 34 of those as an employee for the Lampasas Independent School District.

All that is about to change as she prepares to graduate to the next phase of life: retirement.

The Azle native said her life has always been hectic, because she admittedly is always in a hurry. “I figured out in my sophomore year that if I worked hard I could skip my junior year by going to summer school.”

And that’s what she did. But she didn’t want to miss her senior year, so she jumped from being a sophomore to a senior. And at 17, she was ready to be on her own.

Oddly enough, her introduction to Lampasas came just prior to beginning studies at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, where she would earn a bachelor’s degree in business with a teaching certification.

During a trip to Europe that summer with an aunt and uncle, she struck up a conversation in Rome with a 70-year-old woman from Brownwood who was traveling with a group from Lampasas. “I had never heard of Lampasas before that,” Mrs. Edwards said. “But I had to be in Rome to hear about Lampasas.”

During her first semester at college, Mrs. Edwards’ bonds to Lampasas would strengthen after she met Mickey Edwards, her future husband.

He was shy and quiet, she said; the boy next door. Literally.

Mrs. Edwards and some friends began to attend lunch sessions of the “12:30 C.C. Club” at the Harris House, Edwards’ college residence, where they would watch the Cartoon Carnival on television.

On the couple’s first date, they ate 19-cent hot dogs at Roy’s and went window shopping, then to Coggin Park. That was Oct. 13, 1972 (Friday the 13th, she pointed out), and they were married Aug. 10, 1973.

The first time Mrs. Edwards visited Lampasas before she married was when her future husband came home to vote. “The second time, Mickey’s father [Gail Edwards] decided to test out this city girl. We cut calves. I don’t think I had ever even touched one until that day. He broke me in good. Storm’s and cows. That’s what I came to Lampasas for.”

Edwards, a previous ag student of Jack Lacy’s, earned a trip to state for a dairy judging contest. He also worked for his ag teacher during the summer.

After Lacy was named superintendent of Lampasas schools and just after Edwards’ college graduation, Lacy phoned to offer his former student a job.

“I said, ‘He’ll take it,’ and I had already started packing by the time Mickey got home,” said Mrs. Edwards.

She also was offered a job but with no openings, Lacy took her on as a long-term substitute in the business department while Suzanne Keele was on maternity leave.

When Mrs. Edwards found out Mrs. Keele wasn’t returning, she accepted the full-time teaching post. Meanwhile, her grandmother had just died, she missed all the teachers’ in-service, she had never met the principal, and she hadn’t yet set foot on the high school campus.

“I didn’t get here until the first day of school,” Mrs. Edwards said. That was 1976, and the beginning of what would become a long relationship with the Lampasas school district.

She remained in the classroom for 15 years, and during that time Mrs. Edwards wore many hats, including senior sponsor. She taught 10 different classes over the course of her teaching tenure, sponsored freshman and junior varsity cheerleaders, and had charge of the pep squad and Flames drill team.

After earning a master’s degree in educational administration in 1991 -- along with her husband, who earned his degree at the same time -- she took the high school registrar’s job, a position she held until she was named assistant principal three years ago.

The registrar’s job is a paraprofessional slot, but Mrs. Edwards covered so much ground during her 16 years there it became more than that. Even after she was reclassified as assistant principal, Mrs. Edwards continued the various tasks in the registrar’s office that included figuring grades for report cards and grade-point averages, determining eligibility for the annual Honor Awards Banquet, oversight of the course description booklet, student handbook, master schedules and more.

And for the last three years, Mrs. Edwards was the high school testing coordinator.

During her tenure at LHS, she worked with 12 superintendents, 12 principals, 13 assistant principals and 23 different combinations of administrators.

As she looks back on her years at the high school, Mrs. Edwards said she has a measure of guilt because the amount of time she put into her job cost her precious time with her children.

“I spent a lot of nights here until 1 and 2 a.m.,” she said. “Some nights, I would call the police and ask for an escort to my car because it was late and dark. But I’m a very compulsive person, and it took a lot of hours to get everything done right. And it had to be right.”

Remembering specific episodes over the course of her 30-plus years at LHS, several in particular tickle Mrs. Edwards’ funny bone. One, she remembers, came when she was recovering from an auto accident.

“Amy Bumpus [a former student] came to the counseling office, and Pam Phillips [a counselor] and Judy Smith [counseling secretary] were pulling my arms and legs trying to help get my hip back into place. Amy thought we were having a catfight. She was horrified.”

Another incident occurred when Mrs. Edwards was a typing teacher, and former student Pat Morin was in the class. “I could hear giggling during class, and when I looked up, it would stop. Then when I looked down again, the laughing got harder.

“I finally asked the kids what was so funny, and they pointed to Pat. And there he was, sitting in his seat, with a full gorilla head on. I bet I looked at him several times, and I never even noticed it. I guess I thought it was his hair. It just didn’t register. That was pretty funny.”

Mrs. Edwards said former Principal Robert Parks taught her a lot.

“He always told me to take care of the teachers, and the little things would take care of themselves. I always tried to take care of the teachers and the kids,” she said.

“Mr. Parks told me to look at the big picture, what’s coming down the road, what’s next, and what’s impacted by my decisions. That was good advice I always tried to follow.”

When her husband retired four years ago, Mrs. Edwards said he questioned when his wife would follow suit. “My friends told me I would know when it’s time.

“I knew it was time when I couldn’t get it all done at the level I wanted to do it. I was getting very tired, and the stress level was high, and I wasn’t bouncing back like I used to. I couldn’t do those 1 and 2 a.m. nights anymore.”

Mrs. Edwards looks forward to spending more time with her husband, two kids and grandchildren. “I realized my family needs some of my time, too. They have sacrificed so much so I could do a job I knew needed to get done.”

After the arrival of Principal Mark Kehoe, Mrs. Edwards’ decision to retire came easier.

“I know Mark is here to stay, so I’m not worried about him leaving,” she said. “He is doing a great job, and he will continue to do so. Mr. [Randy] Hoyer [superintendent] thanked me because I spoke up strongly when I recommended Mark for this job. He told me, ‘You were right about Mark. He’s doing an excellent job.’”

Not long after she decided to retire, Mrs. Edwards found out she had breast cancer -- high-grade ductal carcinoma in situ with multiple focal points. And her life has been a roller coaster since, she said.

After a biopsy and two surgeries, full radiation treatments will start soon, but she is thankful no chemotherapy is scheduled, and her prognosis is good.

“Lauren Lansford [LHS science instructor] probably saved my life,” said Mrs. Edwards.

A different complaint sent Mrs. Edwards to see her family doctor, who recommended visiting a surgeon to rule out anything serious “just to be on the safe side.”

The surgeon, in inspecting Mrs. Edwards’ records, noted she had missed her annual mammogram.

At the firm suggestion of Mrs. Lansford, Mrs. Edwards had a digital mammography. And that was fortunate. “The cancer was so small that it would never have been seen by a regular mammogram,” she said. “And it was an aggressive form of cancer, so if I had waited, it could have been too late.”

After completing treatment, she hopes to begin retired life doing those things she hasn’t had time for over the last three decades -- mostly spending time with her family.

Daughter Caety is a social studies teacher at Fort Hood for the Killeen ISD.

Son Reagan is a job superintendent for M&W Builders, a structural steel firm, based out of Temple. He and his wife Brandy, a Lampasas police officer, have three children: Sydney, a sixth-grader; Jay, a fourth-grader; and 4-year-old Brennan.

Looking to the future, Mrs. Edwards hopes to develop software programs. She designed several programs she uses at LHS, and she may look to market those.

She also enjoys photography. “I don’t like to shoot deer, but I like to shoot pictures of them. I also want to travel.”

Mrs. Edwards said she and her husband plan to drive across the U.S., and then hope to travel to Canada and England. “We travel well together, and we always have fun.”

And because her husband has cows on 10 different leases, Mrs. Edwards believes it’s time she learns how to back up a stock trailer. “I don’t like doing that, but I don’t see any way around it now.”

Edwards, who says he has too many cows for a hobby but not quite enough to make money on them, also works part time as a special education and charter school consultant for Region 12 Education Service Center.

Mrs. Edwards also plans to “declutter” her home which, she said, looks suspiciously like her office with stacks of papers everywhere.

But before that, she will have to clear out her office. And she was so sure this would be her last year with the LISD, she didn’t hang anything on the office walls. “I wanted to keep it clear of nail holes for the next person.”

Her last day is June 24, but is she counting?

“No. I’m just going to work until they take my key and tell me not to come back.”

Mrs. Edwards, choking back tears, said leaving is just as she knew it would be.

“I will miss all my friends, but I leave with the satisfaction of knowing I helped someone. I think I have been of service, and I’ve left my mark. It’s been fun and rewarding, and I think I’ve helped the students.

“The time has just flown by,” she continued. “I’ve been in school for over 50 years, and I will be married for 37 years this summer.

“I think we both still feel like the kids we were when we got married. But it sure is a shock to look in the mirror!”

And with her retirement a breath away, it’s not the early nights, the computer programs, or even the trips she looks most forward to. It’s being with her husband.

“I just can’t wait for us to just spend time together. There are so many interesting things for us to see out there. We’re going to have lots of fun together.

“We really love to be together; we are ‘bestest’ friends and even after all these years together, we still enjoy each other’s company.

“And I don’t know what I’d do without him.”