Seeker,

As far as your student goes I need you to know that you made an impact on that child that will stay with him always, wherever he may be now.

I just reunited with a teacher I had in high school almost thirty years ago. She was aware of what life was like for me at home and she took me under her wing. I was a delinquent, never in school, a tough druggie. But, she saw potential in me, always urging me towards college for a writing carrer. She encouraged me to keep a journal and write, write, write. I scoffed at the time. I had zero self-esteem.

I don't even remember the day I graduated high school, and I never saw my teacher again. She (hearing this from her now) thought I walked off into a world of drugs and crime. She told me she thought of me often and wondered how my life turned out.

A few years after high school I did get myself on the right path and here I am, thirty years later, writing. Just like she encouraged me to do.

I felt it was important to let her know that she did make a difference in my life. I always heard her voice of encouragement somewhere deep inside saying, you have a gift.

It took me a year to find her. She had left the state, remarried and moved far away. But I kept at it, determined to give it my all.

I wanted her to know she made a difference in my life.

We both cried on the phone the day I found her.

I share this with you in case your "little guy" doesn't get that chance.

Just know it mattered.

Petunia