Fwd: FW: A feel good story to open the season

>Subject:    A feel good story to open the season
>
>        >>>      Her name was Mrs. Thompson.  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 & 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 Stoddard.
>        >>> Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before &
>noticed that he didn't
>        >>> play well with the other children, that his clothes were
>messy & 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withdrawn and doesn't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 he  sometimes
>        >>> sleeps in class."
>        >>>  By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and 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 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.  But 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 Stoddard 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, writing, & 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 the 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 had 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, third in his class,
>and she was still
>        >>> the best
>        >>>  teacher he had eve 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
>honors.
>        >>>  He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best
>and  favorite
>        >>> teacher he had 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. Stoddard, MD.
>        >>> The story doesn't end there.  You see, here 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 & 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 the Teddy
>remembered his
>        >>> mother wearing on their last Christmas together.  They
>hugged each
>other,
>        >>> and Dr. Stoddard 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.  "Teddy," she said, "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."
>        >>>       Warm someone's heart today - pass this along.
>        >>> Please  remember wherever you go, and whatever you do,
>you will have the
>        >>> opportunity to touch and/or change someone's outlook.
>Please try to do
>    >it
>        >>> in a positive  way.
>        >>>
>        >>>       Friends are angels who lift our feet when our
>wings have
>        >>>  trouble remembering how to fly.
>        >>>
>    >
>

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