In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, I posted a piece about my piano teacher over at Mom Colored Glasses, and it got me thinking. There have been so many teachers that have impacted my life, and thought it would be the perfect addition to my gift list to think about just a few of them…
#465: My Mom, who taught me everything from tying my shoes to creating gift baskets to being a woman and a mom
#466: My Dad, who took on the unfortunate task of teaching me how to drive…the most memorable stretch of road being the harrowing road trip where I drove white-knuckled through Cleveland as a new driver…I’m surprised my Dad didn’t have a heart attack on the spot
#467: Mrs. Bundy, my 2nd grade teacher, who took me under her wing as a scared little kid at a new school and made me feel special
#468: Mrs. Anderson, who introduced me to singing with the M & Ms kids choir at church…I will always remember practicing articulation and rhythm with Psalm 1
#469: My Mom again, who taught me how to type like no one’s business
#470: My best childhood friend, Tiffany, who taught me what being a loyal friend looks like
#471: Mr. Mantz, who taught me that being a teacher sometimes means taking a break from math and talking about life
#472: Mrs. Magin, who taught me what patience looks like…and how to play a snare drum
#473: My first boss, Cathy, who taught me how to scoop custard, run a cash register, and decorate ice cream cakes
#474: Professor Johnson, my Freshman Lit prof, who spent a lot of time talking about song lyrics and writing about memories. It’s one of the few freshman classes that I remember…
#475: Professor Cuffman, who taught me how to love Communication Theory and who was a mentor in the truest sense of the word…listening, guiding, and looking out for me…
#476: Marcia, the trainer for my very first job, who taught me how to run debits and credits and how to balance a teller drawer
#477: Jennifer, my first on-the-job trainer, who taught me how to buck up and move on after our bank branch was robbed
#478: Pam, who taught me how to love Corporate Training, and who was also a mentor in the truest sense of the word…telling me what I needed to hear, giving me amazing opportunities, and looking out for me…
#479: Professor Bechlur, who introduced me to Organizational Communication, which I now love, and gave me the foundation for a class I would ultimately teach five years later
#480: My mother-in-law, who patiently taught me how to plant flowers and gardens even though I am horrible at it
#481: My students, who taught me how to be a better teacher, to engage with them personally instead of looking at them en masse, and how it wasn’t the end of the world if we threw my lesson plans out of the window sometimes
#482: The maternity nurses when we had our kids, who (mercifully) taught me it was okay to send them to the nursery for a couple of hours while I slept
#483: Ben, who taught me how to be strong, assertive, and proud of who I am…and he is desperately trying to teach me that I don’t have to do it all myself…
#484: Jeff Manion, who teaches me every week to take the spiritual blinders off my eyes and be open to what God has to say to my heart – I can truly say that I can see the work of the Holy Spirit…through him
#485: Trish, who pushed me all this year to be a better leader to my Bible study group and challenged me to dig deeper into the Word
#486: Jesus, who I reacquainted myself with this year through the book of Luke, taught me through His life work how to be the person He wants me to be and how I can’t squander my opportunities to use the gifts He has given me
Wow…I think I could keep going all night, going back over the many, many teachers that have been a part of my life. I am truly thankful for each one of them, listed on the screen or in my heart, and hope that I am able to communicate my thankfulness in some small way someday…
