Tuesday, January 4, 2011

A letter

I just got the most amazing letter in the post. All the way from Washington (the state...well not from the state, but from someone who lives in Washington the state, where I haven't been, as opposed to Washington DC, where I have been... minor sidetrack). This letter was from Tamara Steen. She was my English teacher in Year 11, back in 1998. She and a teacher from my school swapped lives for a year. Mrs Steen was an amazing teacher, she made lessons interesting, challenged our thinking about all sorts of things & brought us yummy chocolate brownies. She was also the only teacher to give me 4/20 for an assignment (which I fully deserved - you should not do English assignments on the train to school).

Anyway, about 3 weeks ago I felt like I really wanted to send a letter to 3 of the teachers who made the biggest impact on my life - my Year 3 teacher, my High School Year Adviser & Mrs Steen. Mrs Steen was the only one I could track down (it seems it's easier to stalk people in America than in my local area - though it still took a few hours), so I sent her a letter expressing how much she had impacted my life & inspired me as a teacher to make my classroom an exciting and challenging place to be.

Today I got a reply from her, which is so exciting in itself, but what makes it more exciting is that it was a God thing! God used my letter at exactly the right time! Here is the first bit of the letter:
Hi, Kaye!

Wow! I just received the most extraordinary letter of my career as an educator - and certainly one of the best Christmas presents I've ever received, too. On the day the letter arrived I was depressed, questioning my career choices, especially as I am 62 and retirement looms in a few years.
How perfect is God's timing! I could have sent that letter anytime in the last 12 years, but it got to her right on the day it needed to! Argh! I've got goosebumps!

Anyway I've got to get ready for the prayer breakfast I'm leading in the morning (at 7:30am! During the holidays?! What was I thinking?).

Oh & if anyone knows the address of Mrs Robinson or Mr Corlette please let me know. Thanks!

2 comments:

cassandra said...

Wow, Ms Steen! This reminded me of Ms Lynch & her funny ways of always being late to class & often forgetting her keys. She was great too!!!

cassandra said...

so you know ... I just sent a msg to Fran Cummings' brother in-law. Hopefully she has a contact for you. xx