How do you say thank you to someone that changed your life? Well, we now have a way to acknowledge the people that have formed our lives as we grew up! It’s Teacher Appreciation Week in the US and we here at Peace 107 want to encourage you to reach out and thank a teacher that changed your life. Hi Peace Family I’m Jami Mayberry and here’s an example:
My first grade teacher, Mrs. Marue Miller, saw that I needed to be brought out of my shell after my parents divorce. She made me chalkboard monitor and I got to help erase her lessons so she could write new ones on the chalk board. It meant the world to me and did indeed bring me out of my shell. She made me feel special when I needed it so. Later in life, on a site called Classmates.com I looked her up. She was registered! I called the number provided and her daughter, Nita, answered. She said her mother had been in poor health and really couldn’t talk on the phone so I told Nita my story of how much her mother meant to me. I also told her the confidence her mother gave me led me to play sports and go on to a radio career later in my life. Mrs. Miller really changed the course of my life!
Nita started crying and told me that the years her mother taught in Amarillo, Texas were some of the unhappiest in her life. She was only there a few years before moving closer to family in Dallas. I said, “Well maybe God sent her there for me. I needed her so much and she was an angel to me.” Nita told me her mother would be so proud of my career achievements and would tell her when she had a ‘clear’ moment.
Two years later I got a call from Nita telling me Mrs. Miller had passed away and asked if she could have the pastor that performed her funeral tell our story. I was overwhelmed and honored. Of course I said yes. A few days later I called Nita to see how the funeral had gone. She said the pastor had done a beautiful job of telling her mother’s life story and when he told my story there were tears throughout the crowd. Just to know she made a profound difference in even one child’s life while she was at an unhappy time in hers showed her character.
I am so glad I got to tell her family what she meant to me. Is there a teacher that helped you more than they realize? Or maybe you are a teacher and you wonder sometimes if you really even matter in your students lives. I can assure you that you do! More than you know. And I pray some of you students come back one day to say thank you.
TEACHERS WE APPRECIATE YOU!!!
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