You Are on My Mind

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and I was going to write something about it. But I'm a bit distracted and my mind is wandering about. This morning I got a phone call from my youngest daughter at school. She was informing me that her English teacher was retiring. She sounded very upset and I could hear her sniffling over the phone. I shed some tears too. Retirement is hardly sad news. Most people look forward for their departure from work. They make plans to travel to places they’d never been before, move to a warmer climate, spend their days at the beach, or just relax with no care in the world.

However, my daughter’s teacher is retiring due to the worsening of his MS conditions. He was a great educator, a passionate teacher with a mission to make a difference. He cared about increasing his student’s knowledge and improving upon their writing ability. He taught both of my daughters and I’ve met him only twice, both briefly for parent teacher conferences.

It saddens me to see a gifted teacher leave his class half way through the year. I am very sorry to see a fifty some year old man suffer from multiple sclerosis, a very painful and cruel disease.

I am surprised by my own tears and sadness. I’ve gone through my life losing a number of my loved ones. And how I wanted and wished to spare my children from experiencing the pain and the agony of loss. If only I could make a shield and a barrier to protect them from hurting. Wishful thinking, big time. Right? Life has its own plans and agendas. I told my daughter that at least she had the great opportunity to be his student for most part of the year. And that’s something to be grateful for.

I know full well that great teachers don’t come by easy. We are lucky to even have one in our lifetime. I didn’t even know what having a great teacher meant until I had one. The difference between an amazing teacher and a lousy teacher is a difference between a narrow and winding river finally meeting the big blue ocean versus the same river turning into a swamp when blocked by massive amount of dirt and rocks.

To all the good teachers out there I say keep up the good work, we need you, our future generations need you. We appreciate you and love you.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Photo Credit: The Heart Nebula By Daniel Marquardt, apod. nasa