Mrs. P

This will probably mean very little to most of you but it is a little attempt to pay a small tribute to a woman who played a very important role in my life. I got news last week that my very favorite teacher of all time was in the hospital and only had a few hours to live. Mrs. P was my Honors English Teacher in H.S. for 3 years and she was brutal, not usually a trait found in a teacher that you love, but while her class was difficult (more difficult than anything I encountered in college) I learned a ton and loved going. We read so many books, wrote so many essays, and oh the TESTS (any of you who had her can remember the TESTS). Through all the reading, writing, and studying my brains out I got to be in the presence of this great woman and I learned just a little more about the person I wanted to become. I learned so much from her that has nothing to do with English but everything to do with life. She cared about every simple little thing that was going on in my life when I thought it was important but now can see she must have been laughing inside at the things that I thought were critical. I live far away now and haven't seen her in quite some time, but just the fact that when I go home I will not bump into her in the store or pass her on the street is heart breaking to me. When we were in her class a few of us talked about how she seemed super-human somehow, like the need to eat, drink, or sleep didn't exist for her as it did for mere mortals. The fact that she passed away so early in her life brings those thoughts flooding back. She touched so many lives and she will be missed. Good bye to a great teacher, mentor, and friend.