Post by TW on Feb 13, 2009 14:57:35 GMT -5
I received a letter yesterday from a guy who went to high school with me. He was two years ahead of me, but his Mom was one of my teachers.
Being a small school, she taught an array of courses, and was quite knowledgeable in all of them. She was an inspiration to me in school.
She told me that history was a never ending story. That it was no different than the stories we read that were fiction, except that the people were real. She told me to visualize what I was reading, and turn it into something exciting, that would make me even more interested in continuing to read.
Well, it worked. She had me so hyped on reading that I read the Iliad & The Oddysey, by Homer, when I was in the 6th grade. I was reading J. Quentin Reynolds, and Dickens. Everything was exciting, that was put on paper.
Back about four years ago, I saw a little blurb on the internet, written by one of her sons, who had become a Minister, far from home. In fact the whole family had moved from their home, and was scattered in various areas throughout the US.
I decided to send him an email, telling him how I remembered his Mom - my teacher - and let him know how much respect I had for her, and how much she did, to make me knowledgeable about the world, by getting me to read, and pushing me in English, when I tried to lay down on the job. Also, to tell him how her pushing me in math made all the difference in the world, so I could become a Mechanical Engineer. Of course, I figured she was no longer with us.
I was surprised to find out she was still alive. She still is today, and is 96 years old, and just went into a nursing home, because she needs assistance that can't be given at home. She'd been living with this son, and his family.
She can no longer write letters because of her hand shaking. But she can read them, he told me. He told me that she gets letters from a few of us, who are "special to her." The students she had, over a half century ago. She enjoys reading them, and goes over them repeatedly, saying prayers for all of us as she does.
I'm going to get a nice letter off to her tomorrow, or Sunday at the latest. I want to make sure I contact her again, so she knows how important she was to me in my growth as a person.
I know some of you don't have those fond memories of one special teacher, but for those that do, make it a point to contact them, and let them know how much you appreciate the effort they put forth to make you a better person. You just never know when time will run out, and you won't be able to do it. Then it's too late.
Being a small school, she taught an array of courses, and was quite knowledgeable in all of them. She was an inspiration to me in school.
She told me that history was a never ending story. That it was no different than the stories we read that were fiction, except that the people were real. She told me to visualize what I was reading, and turn it into something exciting, that would make me even more interested in continuing to read.
Well, it worked. She had me so hyped on reading that I read the Iliad & The Oddysey, by Homer, when I was in the 6th grade. I was reading J. Quentin Reynolds, and Dickens. Everything was exciting, that was put on paper.
Back about four years ago, I saw a little blurb on the internet, written by one of her sons, who had become a Minister, far from home. In fact the whole family had moved from their home, and was scattered in various areas throughout the US.
I decided to send him an email, telling him how I remembered his Mom - my teacher - and let him know how much respect I had for her, and how much she did, to make me knowledgeable about the world, by getting me to read, and pushing me in English, when I tried to lay down on the job. Also, to tell him how her pushing me in math made all the difference in the world, so I could become a Mechanical Engineer. Of course, I figured she was no longer with us.
I was surprised to find out she was still alive. She still is today, and is 96 years old, and just went into a nursing home, because she needs assistance that can't be given at home. She'd been living with this son, and his family.
She can no longer write letters because of her hand shaking. But she can read them, he told me. He told me that she gets letters from a few of us, who are "special to her." The students she had, over a half century ago. She enjoys reading them, and goes over them repeatedly, saying prayers for all of us as she does.
I'm going to get a nice letter off to her tomorrow, or Sunday at the latest. I want to make sure I contact her again, so she knows how important she was to me in my growth as a person.
I know some of you don't have those fond memories of one special teacher, but for those that do, make it a point to contact them, and let them know how much you appreciate the effort they put forth to make you a better person. You just never know when time will run out, and you won't be able to do it. Then it's too late.
