The 3 R's: Reading, Riting, and (Belated) Recognition

Dear Miss Hutton,

In the year 1978 you will discover in your high school English class, a thin girl with a huge chip on her shoulder.
Please ignore the attitude, she's only like that because her dad passed away suddenly and no one has taken the time to talk about her feelings. No one has realized the crazy things that might go through a 13 year-olds' mind after the unexpected loss of a parent. She lost the one she had chosen to live with in an impending divorce--never mind the fact that they chose not to divorce and had begun working through their marital issues, the teenager only knew that the woman her father had turned her against was now her only parent.

Anyway, she's not a bad egg. She likes to act silly and get the laughs, but really, she just wants some attention. It honestly has never occurred to her that she might be disrupting your class.

Miss Hutton, I know you and I know that I don't even need to mention any of this.

I know that you are going to reach out to her in a subtle way. You won't blatantly try to fluff up her ego-- something that she would definitely fight.
You will encourage her to write and then give her ideas that she could actually be good one day. You will make it fun for her to diagram sentences even though she has no idea why she has to learn it, and when she's older, every sentence in her head will jump into formation and she'll think of you.

That same girl will begin to trust you so much, she will even try out for your softball team. Sad really, because the girl is SO un-athletic. She tends to throw up when she runs, so don't take it personal that she's grumbling about doing laps.

You will touch her life in ways you can't ever imagine.

You will never see how she pulls out of the awkward teenage years and goes on to have a large family and a loving husband. She'll love writing and it will be because of you. The things you teach her about the English language will pop into her mind long after you are gone.

That is sad for me to say,
because you will leave this earth earlier than anyone expected. You will leave before she can properly thank you.
Please find comfort knowing that because of that missed opportunity, she thanks people who make a difference in her children's lives.
She's written thank you notes to her 2nd grade teacher who cried and said that in 30 years she had never been thanked.
That thin girl with a huge chip will be grateful for you...
and because of you.

Thank you, Linda. Enjoy your new Freshman class and may God bless you.

**Tuesday's the last day to enter my thankful-themed Giveaway-- hurry and get your post up!**