There is a story many years ago of an elementary teacher. Her name was Mrs. Thompson. And as she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children a lie. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. But that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy.
Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he didn't play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. And Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his papers.
At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.
Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners...he is a joy to be around."
His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well-liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle."
His third grade teacher wrote, "His mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best but his father doesn't show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken."
Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and sometimes sleeps in class."
By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas Presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing and a bottle that was one quarter full of perfume. She stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist.
Teddy stayed after school that day just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to." After the children left she cried for at least an hour.
On that very day, she quit teaching reading, and writing, and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children.
Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children same, Teddy became one of her "teacher's pets."
A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.
Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, second in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.
Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had in his whole life.
Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer. The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stollard, M.D.
The story doesn't end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he'd met this girl and was going to be married.
He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit in the place at the wedding that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom.
Of course, Mrs. Thompson, did. And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. And she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together.
They hugged each other, and Teddy whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, "Thank you, Mrs. Thompson, for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference."
Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, "Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you."
You make the choice! Don't look for a punch line;
there isn't one. Read
it anyway. My question to all of you is: Would you
have made the same
choice?
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves
learning disabled
children, the father of one of the students delivered
a speech that
would never be forgotten by all who attended.
After extolling the school and its dedicated staff,
he offered a
question:
"When not interfered with by outside influences,
everything nature does
is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot
learn things as other
children do. He cannot understand things as other
children do. Where is
the natural order of things in my son?"
The audience was stilled by the query. The father
continued. "I
believe, that when a child like Shay comes into the
world, an
opportunity to realize true human nature presents
itself, and it comes,
in the way other people treat that child."
Then he told the following story:
Shay and his father had walked past a park where some
boys Shay knew
were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think
they'll let me play?"
Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not
want someone like
Shay on their team, but the father also understood
that if his son were
allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed
sense of belonging.
Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field
and asked if Shay
could play.
The boy looked around for guidance and, getting none,
he took matters
into his own hands and said, "We're losing by six
runs and the game is
in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team
and we'll try to put
him in to bat in the ninth inning."
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team
scored a few runs but
was still behind by three.
In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove
and played in the
outfield. Even though no hits came his way, he was
obviously ecstatic
just to be in the game and on the field, grinning
from ear to ear as his
father waved to him from the stands.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored
again. Now, with
two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning
run was on base and
Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away
their chance to win
the game?
Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew
that a hit was all
but impossible 'cause Shay didn't even know how to
hold the bat
properly, much less connect with the ball. However,
as Shay stepped up
to the plate, the pitcher moved in a few steps to lob
the ball in softly
so Shay could at least be able to make contact. The
first pitch came and
Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again
took a few steps
forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the
pitch came in,
Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball
right back to the
pitcher. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and
could have easily
thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have
been out and that
would have been the end of the game.
Instead, the pitcher took the ball and turned and
threw the ball on a
high arc to right field, far beyond the reach of the
first baseman.
Everyone started yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to
first!" Never in
his life had Shay ever made it to first base. He
scampered down the
baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled,
"Run to second, run
to second!" By the time Shay rounded first base, the
right fielder had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the
second-baseman for the
tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions and
intentionally threw
the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.
Shay ran toward
second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously
circled the bases
toward home.
Shay reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran
to him, turned him
in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to
third!"
As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams were
screaming, "Shay,
run home!" Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate,
and was cheered as
the hero who hit the "grand slam" and won the game
for his team.
"That day," said the father softly with tears now
rolling down his face,
"the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of
true love and humanity
into this world."
AND, NOW A LITTLE FOOTNOTE TO THIS STORY:
We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail
without a second
thought, but when it comes to sending messages about
life choices,
people think twice about sharing. The crude, vulgar,
and often obscene
pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion
about decency is
too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces.
If you're thinking
about forwarding this message, chances are that
you're probably sorting
out the people on your address list that aren't the
"appropriate" ones
to receive this type of message. Well, the person who
sent you this
believes that we all can make a difference. We all
have thousands of
opportunities every single day to help realize the
"natural order of
things." So many seemingly trivial interactions
between two people
present us with a choice: Do we pass along a little
spark of love and
humanity or do we pass up that opportunity, and leave
the world a little
bit colder in the process?
Lauri
Lauri
What Would You Do? 
