> As she stood
> in front of her 5th grade class on the
> very first day of school, she told the children
> an untruth. Like most teachers, she looked at
> her students and said that she loved them all
> the same. However, that was impossible,
> because20there in the front row, slumped in his
> seat, was a little boy named Teddy
> Stoddard.
>
>
> Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and
>
> noticed that he did not play well with the other
> children, that his clothes were messy and that
> he constantly needed a bath. In addition,
> Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point
> where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight
> in marking his papers with a broad red pen,
> making bold X’s and then putting a big ‘F’ at
> the top of his papers.
>
> At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was
> required to review each child’s past records and
> she put Teddy’s off until last. However,
> when she reviewed his file, she was in for a
> surprise.
>
>
> Teddy’s first grade teacher wrote, ‘Teddy is a
> bright
> child with a ready laugh. He does his work
> neatly and has good manners… he is a joy to be
> around..’
>
>
>
> His second grade teacher wrote, ‘Teddy is an excellent
> student,
> well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled
> because his mother has a terminal illness and
> life at home must be a struggle.’
>
> His third grade teacher wrote, ‘His mother’s death
>
> has been hard
> on him. He tries to do his best,
> but his father doesn’t show much interest, and
> his home life will soon affect him if some steps
> aren’t taken.’
>
>
> Teddy’s fourth20grade
> teacher wrote, ‘Teddy is withdrawn and doesn’t
> show much interest in school. He doesn’t
> have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in
> class.’
>
>
> By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she
> was ashamed of herself. She felt even
> worse when her students brought her Christmas
> presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and
> bright paper, except for
> Teddy’s.. His present
> was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper
> that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs.
> Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of
> the other presents. Some of the children
> started to laugh when she found a rhinestone
> bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a
> bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume. But
> she stifled the children’s laughter when she
> exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting
> it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her
> wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that
> day just long enough to say, ‘Mrs. Thompson,
> today you smelled just like my Mom used
> to.’
>
>
> After the children left, she cried for at least an
> hour. On that very day, she quit
> teaching
> reading, writing and arithmetic. Instead,
> she began to teach children. Mrs. Thompson
> paid particular attention to Teddy. As she
> worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive.
> The more she encouraged him, the faster he
> responded. By the end
of the year, Teddy had
> become one of the smartest children in the class
> and, despite her lie that she would love all the
> children the same, Teddy became one of her
> ‘teacher’s pets.’
>
> A year later, she found a note under her door,
> from Teddy, telling her that she was the best
> teacher he ever had in his whole
> life..
>
>
> Six years went by before she got another note from
> Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished
> high school, third in his class, and she was
> still the best teacher he ever had in
> life.
>
>
> Four years after that, she got another letter, saying
> that while things had been tough at times, he’d
> stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would
> soon graduate from college with the highest of
> honours. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was
> still the best and favourite teacher he had ever
> had in his whole life.
>
> Then four more years passed and yet another letter
> came. This time he explained that after he got
> his bachelor’s degree, he decided to go a little
> further. The letter explained that she was still
> the best and favourite teacher he ever had. But
> now his name was a little longer …… The
> letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard,
> MD.
>
>
> The story does not end there. You see, there
> was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said
> he had met this girl and was going to be
=0
A> married. He explained that his father had
> died a couple of years ago and he was wondering
> if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit at the
> wedding in the place that was usually reserved
> for the mother
> of the groom. Of course,
> Mrs. Thompson did. And guess what? She wore that
> bracelet, the one with several rhinestones
> missing. Moreover, she made sure she was
> wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his
> mother wearing on their last Christmas
> together.
>
>
> They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in
> Mrs. Thompson’s ear, ‘Thank you Mrs. Thompson
> for believing in me. Thank you so much for
> making me feel important and showing me that I
> could make a difference.’
>
> Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered
>
> back. She said, ‘Teddy, you have it all
> wrong. You were the one who taught me that
> I could make a difference. I didn’t know how to
> teach until I met you.’
> (For you that
> don’t know, Teddy Stoddard is the Dr at Iowa Methodist
> in Des Moines that has the Stoddard Cancer
> Wing.)
>
> Warm someone’s heart today… pass this
> along. I love this story so very much, I
> cry every time I read it. Just try to make
> a difference in someone’s life today? Tomorrow?
> Just ‘do it’.
> Random acts of
> kindness, I think they call it!
>
>
> ‘Believe in Angels, and then return the=0
D
> favour.
I couldn’t stop the tears from falling…
