Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Happy World Teachers' Day!!! 2021

Happy World Teachers' Day!!!!

 If you are looking for cats or dogs today, I'm sorry but there are none here! Today I feel it is important to honor Teachers, one of the most thankless jobs that there is. How teachers are able to navigate successfully everything going on with the pandemic is beyond me. In my mind, they are ALL worthy of a medal (and much more income than they receive, but I digress).

I was blessed to have a number of super good teachers in my life. My first memory is of my kindergarten teacher. I no longer remember her name, but I remember HER. My 5 year old mind  thought she was a Princess. She had long blonde hair, and she was the sweetest ever. I remember crying because I couldn't figure out how to put my boots on (not the brightest bulb on the tree for sure) and I was afraid I would miss the bus because of it. She patiently sat with me and helped me figure it out, I will never forget that.



I was also blessed to have a wonderful teacher in 5th Grade. Her name was Mrs. Sullivan. She had beautiful red hair, and truth be told, I think I mostly loved her because she had a Collie. She lived in the neighborhood, and I would take walks by her house with a friend hoping to catch a glimpse of her beautiful Collie.

In High School, my favorite teacher was Mrs. Bevington. She taught English and I adored her (and vice versa). She took a special liking to me and always encouraged me to write. I remember her beautiful BIG smile and that her cheeks were always flushed.



In college I was enthralled by my Philosophy professor,  Dr.Burlingame. He was soft-spoken, his lectures captivated me, and he would smoke a pipe in class (I LOVED the smell of his pipe tobacco).....He wore tweed suit jackets with turtle neck sweaters, I thought he was charming and captivating. We barely spoke one-on-one but I enjoyed his classes so much that I went on to minor in Philosophy (I took at least 4 classes that he taught, if not more.) At the beginning of the semester he would look at the class, see me and say "Ah!! I see a familiar face!!".



Last and far from least, was Dr.Osborne. He was a professor of mine for a number of classes in Rhetoric and Communication. He used to call me "Tuff." I had a HUGE crush on him (don't get excited, nothing ever happened!!). My senior year of college was particularly hard on me, my grandmother passed, and my parents divorced. I used to spend hours in his office just talking about what I was going through, and occasionally we would go out to lunch. I was crazy about him. He truly listened to me and cared about what was going on in my world and he always tried to help. He also smoked a pipe (Captain Black tobacco lol! My father was a pipe smoker too so I bet that had something to do with my attraction to pipe smoking professors!!). He used to tell me he saw a "special light in my eyes.", and that I was always more animated and interested than many of his other students.



 When I graduated I was devastated to leave and dreaded returning home. I remember Dr. Osborne saying to me "Tuff, go forth and do GOOD things!" I was  heartbroken when I heard he had passed a few years ago.


Of course my husband is a teacher! Just look at who he resembles!!

My husband is also a teacher!! (Nope! He doesn't smoke a pipe!) He taught Special Ed. in the City of Detroit (Amelia Earhart Middle School) for 36 years, his mother was a teacher, his sister was a teacher, his niece was a teacher, another niece is a guidance counselor, and another sister is a Speech Pathologist in a school in Florida. My step daughter is an Assistant Teacher for a day care provider. My husband now is a permanent sub.  There are strong ties to teachers and education in our family!!

Hence, World Teachers' Day is a special day to me! " Considering that teachers mold future generations, taking one day every year to say “thank you” is the least we can do. No matter where you are in the world today, remember that teachers matter!"


A most heartfelt THANK YOU to all of the teachers in my life, past and present, and to ALL teachers everywhere!! You rock!!

23 comments:

  1. a happy teachers day to all who bring wisdom to us...

    ReplyDelete
  2. If ever there was an underappreciated job...

    ReplyDelete
  3. What would we do without teachers. My favorite class in high school was Earth Science. I forgot the teachers name but she had a reputation for being tough and nobody wanted to take her classes but for me, she really made that class enjoyable.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy World Teachers' Day! What a lovely tribute to one of the most important members of society. And bless Lenny for being a teacher (and all your other family members connected to the teaching field). Gawd knows I couldn't do it (nor would anyone want me to!) but I greatly admire those who do. 💙

    ReplyDelete
  5. I remember many outstanding teachers too, especially in the areas of art and languages. How cool that your husband is a teacher and that there are so many teachers in your family. Happy World Teacher's Day to all!

    ReplyDelete
  6. A great tribute to the influential teachers in your life.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Teachers are so wonderful, past and present. It's funny, my Dad's favorite teacher was his first grade teacher, she was so nice. Years later, after the Dad graduated college, that teacher's husband worked for our Dad. That's a small world!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks to all your teachers and professors who have helped shape you into the wonderful lady that we all now know and love!

    Thanks to mine too, LOL! I have had several faves as well. Teachers are the best thing next to our families, I think.

    My Aunt was a teacher, for a number of years she taught the younger grades, starting in a one room school, and eventually after many years she went into special education.
    My sister was a correctional officer, I always think they are sort of like teachers/mentors as well, to help reshape messed up peeps into better citizens.

    My Grandfather was a schoolmaster, and I have pics of him standing in front of his classroom, from the 1930's if I have it correctly.

    Many of my friends are also teachers.
    When I was younger, I had to decide what I wanted to do with my life...be a nurse or a teacher...the nurse won out, LOL! However in that role we are also teachers! At least I think so!

    When I was a little girl, I always told my Aunt that I wanted to be a teacher so I could go to 'Teacher's Cottage', LOL!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. that is much too kind!! I think they would beg to differ!! Oh my your Aunt taught in a one room schoolhouse??? Like Little House on the Prairie!!! Awww I loved your story!! I used to want to be an Early Childhood Education teacher, but when I was in college there was a glut of teachers. I wish I hadn't listened to people and changed my major......I started as an Art major, then education, then switched 3 more times!!

      Delete
    2. Yup, I have a couple of great pictures from a newspaper article, back from the 1950's...after she immigrated to Canada. One of them shows her with a large schoolbell, and my sister has it now, its been engraved with her name, etc. She also had a Royal Doulton ceramic figure of a teacher at her desk, pointing her finger at some student, likely a naughty one, LOL!

      Delete
  9. That is a lovely tribute to all the teachers. I have had some very good teachers, but also some poor ones. The most memorably poor was during High School. She taught Geography and would tell us what we had to read during class, then sit there conducting an imaginary orchestra.

    ReplyDelete
  10. There are some great teachers out there.

    Have a fabulous day. Scritches to the boys. ♥

    ReplyDelete
  11. Happy Teacher's Day! I was lucky to have had quite a number of great teachers :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Happy Teacher's Day! I have lots of teachers in my family, and lots of friends who are teachers, too. I was also so fortunate growing up, all the way through college, to have amazing teachers and professors. I still exchange holiday cards with my third grade teacher, if you can believe it. :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. A great post friends of a day that is important. I have had a few very special teachers in my life and am the better for it

    ReplyDelete
  14. A really good teacher can change your life! I was very fortunate to have several wonderful teachers too.

    ReplyDelete
  15. You never forget your most inspiring teachers, do you? I was extraordinarily lucky to have several really good teachers. Thanks to them I now love history, music and, of course, reading and writing.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Teachers are very important and deserve a special day of recognition.

    ReplyDelete