Yesterday in an attempt to lighten up a bit I posted this: A teachers job is not to teach, rather it is to inspire the student to learn. At least that was the thought, paraphrased here a bit. I asked what teacher inspired you. I was pleased to see many posted their favorite teachers. All in all it was a pleasant little post, a distraction if only for a few moments. And a name I had forgotten was brought back to me. You know how that is, sometimes it takes someone else to pry that information loose from your grey matter. Oh the information was there all along, just stuck down deep in the file. So, I was happy for that and was reminded once again of a story I like to tell.
I graduated from East Hampton High School in 1971. The Vietnam war was still raging, the country in a bit of turmoil over that unpopular war. Of course I've never known any war to be popular but that's a different topic. I wasn't one that was protesting that, I was what we call a conservative today and have remained that way ever since. I joined the Navy following graduation. No, I didn't join the Navy to go to war or out of any great parotitic spirit. I'll save that line for the taverns and veterans meetings. But off I went. After a number of years had passed I had the opportunity to return to that high school, in my dress uniform. I believe I just went there for old times sake, as a sort of reunion. Whatever the case was, there I was walking down those halls that I remembered so well. Then I hear a voice calling to me, Benny, everyone in high school called me Benny having not yet become Ben, and a teacher rushing toward me. It was Mrs. Teal ( the name I couldn't recall, thanks Tom ) an English teacher I had, tenth grade I believe. I can't be certain, it's has been a long time.
I stood still for a moment as Mrs. Teal rushed up tp me and embraced me. It was a bit of a shock really, as she hugged me she said, with a bit of a quiver in her voice, it's so nice to see you. Then stepping back she began to explain that she was going to retire from teaching that year. With a few tears running down her cheek she related how she missed the kids that were in my class, all the kids back in the " old " days and how the kids today weren't the same. She said she was glad she was retiring as the children weren't like me. As I said, a bit of a shock. Me? But I understood she was talking in a general sense and I understood the message. Times change, procedures change and society changes over the years. I never felt sentimental about the Navy until the day I retired. The day I stood before a small gathering to give my retirement address I did feel a bit emotional, a bit nostalgic for the old days. I gave her a hug in parting and wished her well. It's a moment in time I will not forget, even when I forget the name.
That encounter came as a bit of a shock for a couple reasons I think. First and foremost Mrs. Teal greeted me as an equal, an adult. No longer was I the student and she the teacher. No, now she was simply a wonderful person I knew from my past. Yes, I remember her being my teacher and I never felt like we had any special teacher/student bond. I always thought I was just another face in a sea of faces, a name on the attendance sheet. But in that brief moment I understood, that wasn't the case. It wasn't because I was special, not at all, but that I was a part of her past, a past she was going to miss, in fact, had already begun to miss. It was a lesson I learned that after having left my first ship, being transferred to another. I ran into an old shipmate, a person I really only knew by name, and we shook hands like old friends reunited. The bond was solely we had served on the same ship, much like the bond of, I was in her class. A bit of a shock to realize that your teacher is just a person too. Perhaps I would have felt differently had I remained in that hometown and interacted with those teachers, but I hadn't seen any since graduation. So, to me, she was still Mrs. Teal and all the others Mr. this or Coach that. The principle was still to be feared, well at be least wary of. But in an instant all that had changed with an embrace and a few warm words exchanged.
I have learned that we are forever linked to our past. The past will revisit us in unexpected ways at unexpected moments. As I read some of the names left on that posting yesterday I was reminded of days gone by. I remembered those days in the halls of education! I was so anxious to graduate, grow up and move on. I'm not going to say I would change a thing if I could go back. No I wasn't a straight A student, honor roll, valedictorian or voted to succeed at anything. I didn't play any sports and have moments of glory. I wasn't in the band, or the drama club, or anything for that matter. I was just a student in the high school. No, I don't think I would change a thing, I like my memories just the way they are. Went for a little visit yesterday, as a matter of fact, and it was great. You might say it was a, Hallmark moment.
I graduated from East Hampton High School in 1971. The Vietnam war was still raging, the country in a bit of turmoil over that unpopular war. Of course I've never known any war to be popular but that's a different topic. I wasn't one that was protesting that, I was what we call a conservative today and have remained that way ever since. I joined the Navy following graduation. No, I didn't join the Navy to go to war or out of any great parotitic spirit. I'll save that line for the taverns and veterans meetings. But off I went. After a number of years had passed I had the opportunity to return to that high school, in my dress uniform. I believe I just went there for old times sake, as a sort of reunion. Whatever the case was, there I was walking down those halls that I remembered so well. Then I hear a voice calling to me, Benny, everyone in high school called me Benny having not yet become Ben, and a teacher rushing toward me. It was Mrs. Teal ( the name I couldn't recall, thanks Tom ) an English teacher I had, tenth grade I believe. I can't be certain, it's has been a long time.
I stood still for a moment as Mrs. Teal rushed up tp me and embraced me. It was a bit of a shock really, as she hugged me she said, with a bit of a quiver in her voice, it's so nice to see you. Then stepping back she began to explain that she was going to retire from teaching that year. With a few tears running down her cheek she related how she missed the kids that were in my class, all the kids back in the " old " days and how the kids today weren't the same. She said she was glad she was retiring as the children weren't like me. As I said, a bit of a shock. Me? But I understood she was talking in a general sense and I understood the message. Times change, procedures change and society changes over the years. I never felt sentimental about the Navy until the day I retired. The day I stood before a small gathering to give my retirement address I did feel a bit emotional, a bit nostalgic for the old days. I gave her a hug in parting and wished her well. It's a moment in time I will not forget, even when I forget the name.
That encounter came as a bit of a shock for a couple reasons I think. First and foremost Mrs. Teal greeted me as an equal, an adult. No longer was I the student and she the teacher. No, now she was simply a wonderful person I knew from my past. Yes, I remember her being my teacher and I never felt like we had any special teacher/student bond. I always thought I was just another face in a sea of faces, a name on the attendance sheet. But in that brief moment I understood, that wasn't the case. It wasn't because I was special, not at all, but that I was a part of her past, a past she was going to miss, in fact, had already begun to miss. It was a lesson I learned that after having left my first ship, being transferred to another. I ran into an old shipmate, a person I really only knew by name, and we shook hands like old friends reunited. The bond was solely we had served on the same ship, much like the bond of, I was in her class. A bit of a shock to realize that your teacher is just a person too. Perhaps I would have felt differently had I remained in that hometown and interacted with those teachers, but I hadn't seen any since graduation. So, to me, she was still Mrs. Teal and all the others Mr. this or Coach that. The principle was still to be feared, well at be least wary of. But in an instant all that had changed with an embrace and a few warm words exchanged.
I have learned that we are forever linked to our past. The past will revisit us in unexpected ways at unexpected moments. As I read some of the names left on that posting yesterday I was reminded of days gone by. I remembered those days in the halls of education! I was so anxious to graduate, grow up and move on. I'm not going to say I would change a thing if I could go back. No I wasn't a straight A student, honor roll, valedictorian or voted to succeed at anything. I didn't play any sports and have moments of glory. I wasn't in the band, or the drama club, or anything for that matter. I was just a student in the high school. No, I don't think I would change a thing, I like my memories just the way they are. Went for a little visit yesterday, as a matter of fact, and it was great. You might say it was a, Hallmark moment.
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