Skip to main content

Mr. McWilliams






My fourth grade teacher died last week.

He was my favorite teacher of all to that point, and remained so throughout my schooling. His class was the one everyone wanted to be in. 

He brought the incubator to school.

We were the lucky ones. 

We got to watch the chicken eggs go from lifeless white ovals to beaks pecking through the shell. When the chicks emerged our class was the first to see it. The other classes paraded through to catch a glimpse of the miracle of life but we sat with it all day long.

Fourth grade was a turning point in my life. It was the last year of public schooling I had. It was the year my best friend Vicky moved to Florida and my crush (Shawn) moved to that far away land of Ohio. Vicky and I spent many hours playing ding dong ditch at Shawn's house. I still have my diary from that year. 


Apparently Shawn passed this PTA Parent's note out one day. My mother never saw it (until now, sorry mom!)


My 4th grade Valentine from Shawn M. 

April 26, 1979 - the day Shawn moved. I gave him my Dino head eraser (Flintstones) and a pencil sharpener.
And a million letters

And Mr. McWilliams had a part in all of it. 


I am pretty sure he moved my desk right next to Shawn's on purpose. 

He probably saw the stars in my eyes every time I looked at that cute little blond-haired boy.

I hope Mr. McWilliams knew he was in the business of changing lives.

Teachers, you are appreciated. 

Not every student will appreciate you but you will be special to one of them and they will remember you forever. 


Obit if you're interested.

Comments

  1. He was quite young! As an educator your words warm my heart. We always hope that we influence and inspire. I had a second grade boy in my class who I tutored after school in reading. He went from a pre-K reading level to the top reading group in our class. Much hard work. Previous teachers had written him off as ADD. Parents refused meds and I accepted the challenge. Through out the remainder of his school years, he called me every quarter to share his grades. He was the constant reminder that it is our duty/calling to invest in lives.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is so touching. As a teacher, sometimes, you really don't feel appreciated. I know that not every one of my students will love me, but it is nice to remember that some of them will remember and appreciate me for the rest of their lives.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Front Row Seat

  If you've been around me any length of time, you'll know I love having a front row seat when possible. Church. Concerts. Comedy shows. Auctions. I want to be front and center, where the action is, so I don't get distracted and miss something. I want to be part of the event and front is where it's at.  Lately I've had a front row seat to some things that I wish I could unsee. My mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis and the last year and a half of watching her slow and steady decline into a world of unknowns has taken a toll.  I tend to hold every emotion inside. Always have. I've learned -these past fifteen months or so- that this is bad for my health. Stress levels are impacting how I feel. Palpitations, and a diagnosis of "harmless" PACs, have left me trying to manage this stress. It's gotten easier but, I'll admit, I still have things shoved down inside. And then along came CDH. A diagnosis I'd not heard of before it was given to gran

It's Not A Blessing if you Had to Sin to Get it

Pretty strong words but also very true. I once heard a man say his girlfriend was, "A gift from God."  Except she wasn't because she was still married to someone else. Glenn wiggled in and turned her head and snatched her away from her husband and children. How dare he think God had anything to do with that. He doesn't work that way. If you want His blessings then you need to walk closely with Him. He will never bless sin. He can't. He is unable to. Sin is what separates us from God.  Glenn may think he is living a blessed life as he runs on emotions and feelings but nothing like this will prosper. In the end it will lead to destruction.  It already has. The family he destroyed will never be the same. 

Selling items on Craigslist and common scams

I'm selling a couple of things on Craigslist. I've done this a few times before and always, the first interested parties I hear from are scammers. This time in my listing I specified that I will not take money orders and asked that scammers not contact me. Here's the first interested party that I heard from: mr robins journeycristina@gmail.com Is it still available for sale... I replied: Yes it is. Here's the second contact from the first interested party. Note that the name of the sender and the email of the sender are different than the ones from the first contact: Clyde Wright fisherr.mattyy@gmail.com Hello, Thanks for the swift response, just to let you know that am okay with the condition and price of the item, am ready for its purchase and my form of payment will be by sending you Check via UPS next day delivery. I'll be responsible for the pick-up and the pick up money will be included in your payment to avoid delay and to enable pick up company to s