A Letter of Thanks...Air Mail to Heaven

Dear Dr. Jackson:

I wish so very much I had written this letter earlier because sadly now you will never read it.  I was thinking of you recently and tried to look you up through Mr. Google and was so saddened to discover your obituary from 2013.  I still want to write you, however, and maybe somehow the words will float up to Heaven where I am sure you are carrying on very academic conversations with the angels.

                        

I was recently asked who was the one person who most influenced my life.  Of course, I couldn’t name just one person since almost everyone we come across influences us in some way.  Nevertheless, I immediately thought about you and how you probably changed the course of my life more than anyone else.  It’s been so many years ago, and you advised so many students over the years that I’m sure you don’t remember me so let me refresh your memory.

You were my advisor while I attended GSC and right before I was to graduate you called me to your office.  You knew I was graduating a quarter early with a degree in business and you advised me to take education courses so that I could possibly teach business classes in high school.  I immediately said something to the effect of “Thank you, but no thank you” (although I was really thinking #$@% NO!)  I had no desire to teach.  Well, long story short, I finally left your office and went and signed up for those education courses!  You were very persuasive, but I really did it because I respected you and just wanted to please you.

Even after I graduated I had no thoughts of teaching, but then what did you do????  You got me a teaching job at a nearby high school!  I wish I could tell you I fell in love with teaching that year but I definitely did NOT!!!  I won’t take time to go into all the details, but a couple years later I found myself teaching Remedial Reading at the primary level (simply because it was 3 days before school started and they needed a warm body!)  And guess what!  I fell in love with it!

Early Childhood Education became my passion and I ended up teaching for 40 1/2  years with the last 9 of those years teaching college students who were in the field of education. 

I am thankful for every single one of those 40 ½ years, but I would never have experienced any of them if it had not been for YOU.  I truly believe that God had intended all along for me to become a TEACHER, but since

I wasn’t listening to what He was calling me to do, God put YOU in my path and YOU did His handiwork.   And for that I will be eternally grateful.

You influenced my life so profoundly, and I pray that along the way I too may have influenced some of my students in positive ways.  It saddens me greatly that I never got the chance to tell you all this in person, but maybe some day I will have the chance.  Until then, rest in peace.  You will never be forgotten.

Sincerely,

A Very Grateful Student

To my Blogging Friends:

If there is someone who has influenced your life in a positive way and you haven’t taken the opportunity to thank them, don’t waste another minute.  Get out that stationery and put pen to paper…or give them a call. You will be so happy that you did.  Just think…your life might not be what it is today without the influence of someone you least expected to change the direction of your days.