Saying Thank You

Everyone is known for something.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was known for her brooches. Michael Jordan is known for his outrageous flying dunks. David Beckham’s known for bending it. My friend C is known for sending flowers for any and all occasions.

I’m known for sending hand written thank you notes.

Despite this, I was shocked to realize that I’d never written a thank you note to some really important people.

My friend, S, is a high school teacher. Her stories of trying to connect with her students both amuse and horrify me. Mostly her stories make me realize how very hard it is to be a high school teacher – and how very much high school teachers care about their students.

And that’s when I realized that I’d never written a thank you note to my favorite high school teacher, Mrs. Adams.

Truthfully, I had several favorite high school teachers. I was blessed to attend an amazing high school, Manhattan High School, and have many excellent teachers. Many, however, have been lost to time (passed away, retired and moved away, or simply moved on). But one of my favorite teachers is still somewhat connected to my family through the 4-H program.

So I wrote Mrs. Adams a thank you note this week. I’d tell you what I told her, but then it wouldn’t be a note for her.

So I’ll leave my blog post about this 101 goal at this: Mrs Adams was the most amazing English teacher that a student could hope to have. I still have handouts from her class – not because I’m a hoarder, but because I still refer to them.

That’s influence.

Thank you, Mrs. Adams.