Something new...

[moosmom]

I got this in an email from my daughter and thought I'd pass it on here. I've got LES even before my first coffee!!

Too Busy for
a Friend?


One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then he told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.

It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as
the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.

That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that
individual.

On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class
was smiling. 'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I meant
anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much,' were most
of the comments.

No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they
discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The
exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with
themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.

Several years later, one of the students was killed in Viet
Nam and his teacher attended the funeral of that
special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin
before. He looked so handsome, so mature..

The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the
coffin.

As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her.

'Were you Mark's math teacher?' he asked. She nodded: 'yes.' Then he said:
'Mark talked about you a lot.'

After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon.

Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his
teacher.

'We want to show you something,' his father said, taking a wallet out of his
pocket 'They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might
recognize it.'

Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.

'Thank you so much for doing that,' Mark's mother said. 'As you can see, Mark treasured it.'


All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather
sheepishly and said, 'I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my
desk at home.'



Chuck's wife said, 'Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding
album.'


I have mine too,' Marilyn said. 'It's in my diary'

Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. 'I carry this with me at all times,' Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: 'I think we all saved our lists'

That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.

The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end
one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.


So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and
important. Tell them, before it is too late.

And
One Way To Accomplish This Is: Forward this message on. If you do not send
it, you will have, once again passed up the wonderful opportunity to do
something nice and beautiful.


Remember, you reap what you sow. What you put into the lives of others comes back into your own.

May Your Day Be Blessed As Special As You Are

************************************************** *********************

This reminds me so much of my beloved math teacher, Mrs. Flore. I met up with her many years later out of school. I realized she lived only a block away from my best friend. We would sit around the pool and she told me how much I was her favorite student, and how it broke her heart to see me struggle so (and still do) with math. I remember fondly because she was the only teacher that took time out of her busy day to help me one on one. I will never forget her as long as I live. She passed away about two years after I last saw her.

I also had a 6th grade teacher, Mr. Alan Murray. He was SO into reading and encouraged us to read at least one book a month. A couple of years ago, my class held a "reunion" and it was so wonderful to see him again after so many years. When he first saw me, he said, "There's my little dancer!!" He remembered me waaaaay back when I danced in the "Nutcracker" ballet.

How about sharing a story about a favorite teacher yours and how he or she impacted your life?