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UNFORGETTABLE
CHARACTERS
We've all met at least one person who's made a difference in our lives,
so much so that we never forget what they did for us and how it made us
feel at the time or even today, so many years later.
From time to time I'll be sharing stories right here about the
Unforgettable Characters in my life and the difference they made in my
life, and if you feel so moved I encourage you to share some of yours
with me.
Today I'd like to inaugurate this addition to Up Close & Personal
by telling you a little about my 7th Grade Home Room teacher, Mrs. Lela
Cummings.
Mrs. Cummings had a wonderful smile and a warm, loving attitude towards
all of her students. I was very lucky to have had her as my
teacher in the first place because she had already retired, but her
husband had passed away the year before and she asked the school
district if she could stay on one more year to help her through the
grieving process. I'm so glad they granted her request!
One of the earliest memories I have from her class was when my parents
joined me for "Back-to-School Night". Mrs. Cummings was standing
near her desk in front of the classroom greeting the parents and her
students as they entered and began wandering around looking at the many
exhibits we had tacked to the walls or stacked on our desks.
When it was finally our turn to say "Hi!" to her I introduced my
parents to Mrs. Cummings and she graciously smiled and thanked them for
coming. Then my Dad said something that caught us totally by
surprise, "I know you, Mrs. Cummings! You taught one of my
sisters back in Minnesota!" At first she denied it, believing
that it was merely a coincidence that she looked like someone my Dad
knew.
My Dad continued, "No, it's you! It was a small, red, one room
school house in Minnesota." He mentioned his sister's name and
Mrs. Cummings stood there speechless! With tears of joy, thinking
back on all those many years ago and her own special memories of that
small, red, one room school house, she reached out her hand to hold my
Dad's hand once again, looked up into his eyes and, calling him by his
name she remembered from all those many years ago, said softly, "Oh,
Jimmy! How sweet of you to remember me. You don't know how
much this means to me." He returned her warm smile as they stood
there for a moment in silence, and I could see a hint of moisture in my
Dad's eyes as well. Of course, my Mom had been crying tears of
joy throughout this whole exchange!
Then my Dad turned to me and said, "You're going to have a great year
with Mrs. Cummings. She's a wonderful teacher."
One of the many things I learned that year was how to write more
effectively. I had begun to write short stories just for fun when
I was in 2nd or 3rd Grade, but Mrs. Cummings had posted some word
strips on the wall directly across the room from my desk and I could
see them every day. As a part of our lessons each week we were to
present a current event report in front of the class. The word
strips were there to remind us what the important things were that we
needed to remember when doing our report (and they also helped when we
later did book reports!).
To this day I have a picture perfect memory of those word strips on the
wall and have done my best to use them with everything I write from my
journal to my song lyrics:
"Who", "What", "Where", "When", "How", "Why", and give us your
"Opinion".
Mrs. Cummings officially retired after that additional year she was
granted and treated herself to a fabulous trip around the world!
She sent me many postcards from far away exotic places like Tokyo,
Bangkok, Cairo, and Buenos Aires. I'm not sure where those
postcards are today, but Mrs. Cummings left a lasting impression on me
that helped to shape my career.
One day, eighteen years later, I was thinking about her as I was
driving between appointments in my work. I wondered if she was
still alive, and if so where she might be living. I found a pay
phone and a local phone book and looked for her name.
To my joy and surprise I not only found her in the book but I was only
10 minutes from where she lived! I called her, identified
myself, and there was a moment of silence on her end of the line.
Finally, I softly heard her say, "Oh, my goodness. How are
you?" I asked her if I might be able to come by and see her
sometime soon and she said, "Why not now?!"
I called my next appointment and re-scheduled it for the next day and
then drove over to visit with my 7th Grade Home Room teacher from
Bohannon Junior High, in San Lorenzo, California ... Mrs. Lela Cummings
- a most unforgettable character in my life!
Jace
© 2006, Jace Carlton.
All International Rights Reserved.
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