Happy World Teachers' Day!!!!
If you are looking for cats or dogs today, I'm sorry but there are none here! Today I feel it is important to honor Teachers, one of the most thankless jobs that there is. How teachers are able to navigate successfully everything going on with the pandemic is beyond me. In my mind, they are ALL worthy of a medal (and much more income than they receive, but I digress).
I was blessed to have a number of super good teachers in my life. My first memory is of my kindergarten teacher. I no longer remember her name, but I remember HER. My 5 year old mind thought she was a Princess. She had long blonde hair, and she was the sweetest ever. I remember crying because I couldn't figure out how to put my boots on (not the brightest bulb on the tree for sure) and I was afraid I would miss the bus because of it. She patiently sat with me and helped me figure it out, I will never forget that.
I was also blessed to have a wonderful teacher in 5th Grade. Her name was Mrs. Sullivan. She had beautiful red hair, and truth be told, I think I mostly loved her because she had a Collie. She lived in the neighborhood, and I would take walks by her house with a friend hoping to catch a glimpse of her beautiful Collie.
In High School, my favorite teacher was Mrs. Bevington. She taught English and I adored her (and vice versa). She took a special liking to me and always encouraged me to write. I remember her beautiful BIG smile and that her cheeks were always flushed.
In college I was enthralled by my Philosophy professor, Dr.Burlingame. He was soft-spoken, his lectures captivated me, and he would smoke a pipe in class (I LOVED the smell of his pipe tobacco).....He wore tweed suit jackets with turtle neck sweaters, I thought he was charming and captivating. We barely spoke one-on-one but I enjoyed his classes so much that I went on to minor in Philosophy (I took at least 4 classes that he taught, if not more.) At the beginning of the semester he would look at the class, see me and say "Ah!! I see a familiar face!!".
Last and far from least, was Dr.Osborne. He was a professor of mine for a number of classes in Rhetoric and Communication. He used to call me "Tuff." I had a HUGE crush on him (don't get excited, nothing ever happened!!). My senior year of college was particularly hard on me, my grandmother passed, and my parents divorced. I used to spend hours in his office just talking about what I was going through, and occasionally we would go out to lunch. I was crazy about him. He truly listened to me and cared about what was going on in my world and he always tried to help. He also smoked a pipe (Captain Black tobacco lol! My father was a pipe smoker too so I bet that had something to do with my attraction to pipe smoking professors!!). He used to tell me he saw a "special light in my eyes.", and that I was always more animated and interested than many of his other students.
When I graduated I was devastated to leave and dreaded returning home. I remember Dr. Osborne saying to me "Tuff, go forth and do GOOD things!" I was heartbroken when I heard he had passed a few years ago.
Of course my husband is a teacher! Just look at who he resembles!!
My husband is also a teacher!! (Nope! He doesn't smoke a pipe!) He taught Special Ed. in the City of Detroit (Amelia Earhart Middle School) for 36 years, his mother was a teacher, his sister was a teacher, his niece was a teacher, another niece is a guidance counselor, and another sister is a Speech Pathologist in a school in Florida. My step daughter is an Assistant Teacher for a day care provider. My husband now is a permanent sub. There are strong ties to teachers and education in our family!!
Hence, World Teachers' Day is a special day to me! " Considering that teachers mold future generations, taking one day every year to say “thank you” is the least we can do. No matter where you are in the world today, remember that teachers matter!"
A most heartfelt THANK YOU to all of the teachers in my life, past and present, and to ALL teachers everywhere!! You rock!!
