A Mentor who changed my life

Little Things Mean a Lot

I am reminded of the many kindnesses shown to me by teachers when I was a child. It must have been obvious that I was from a deprived home and my teachers were almost always supportive. I thought the reason teachers seemed to like me was because I usually got good grades. Now I realize it may have been because they felt sorry for my situation.
When I was in first grade in Urbana Ohio, my teacher was Mrs. McAdams. She taught one of the two first grades in the school at that time. I was shy and school was a culture shock for me but Mrs. McAdams was truly supportive.
I started school with two new dresses. They were thin dresses made for summer. Soon the winter cold howled around me and the thin material was little help to keep me warm.
Mrs. McAdams asked my parents if she could make some woolen jumpers for me and they said yes. She made two jumpers and blouses to match them. The warm material helped keep me from freezing during that long winter.
When spring arrived, Mrs. McAdams made two more dresses for me. These were of brightly flowered material and looked very spring –like.
Toward the end of school, she came to my house to visit one day. I was up in a tree in the front yard when she arrived. I remember her telling me that she didn’t know I was a squirrel, as she went into the house to talk to my parents.
Her mission that day was to offer to give me free piano lessons that summer if my parents would agree. However, my parents told Mrs. McAdams that we were moving away as soon as school was out and so I would not be available for the lessons she offered.
I always regretted not being able to have the lessons offered and I’ll never forget the little kindnesses that Mrs. McAdams showed to me.