Upon opening , what I believe to be, the last box of books from mom's house, I found two scholarly books that were autographed by the professors who wrote them. I met these gentlemen on a trip I took, with my grandma, to England,Greece, Egypt, Turkey and the Holy Lands in 1984.
Of course, at thirteen, I had difficulty comprehending the material of these books but I tried SO hard to read them then. Both USC professors, their specialties were education/psychology and religions/gerontology and they thought I was a hoot. The one (religion/gerontology) who was leading the trip and the preparation classes often asked me what I thought, quizzed me and (luckily I was taking World History at the time) asked me to explain certain historical events to my fellow travelers, to whom I was at least 50 years their junior. Once on the trip, I wandered away from the tour guides, more often than not, to learn from him and hear his perspective as it related to a Westerner with Christianity as a basis for history. Grandma gave up on bringing me back to the tour. I think she was amused by the whole thing and wished she could find an excuse to listen to my professor too! She HAD thought it was funny when a tough lady on the trip had started calling me 'teacher's pet' at our first class.Anyway, when I came across the books, I decided to see if I could find out more about the men on the internet. I found that the first gentleman was 103 yrs old in December and was celebrated by USC. The second, my tour guide, was still on faculty and had an email! Woohoo! I emailed him and after a few days of wondering whether or not he thought I was a nut job, got a response that filled me with such joy I almost cried because I couldn't tell Grandma in person. 'My' professor is 90 yrs old and just retired from the dept. at USC. He apologized for the delayed response as he was recovering from cancer surgery and he would look me up in the travel memorabilia as soon as he was able to locate his box from 1984. I had told him in my message just how fondly I remember him and how I appreciated his time with me. I filled him in on my life now and how invaluable that experience must have been in my development of teaching philosophy and skills. He was very complimentary in return, reminding me that my job is important. He also was thrilled I had contacted him and asked me to keep in touch because I sounded like someone with whom he would enjoy spending time- yahoo! He also wanted my address so USC could send me his latest book! I'm not quite sure why this made my day (could be that he told me that, by contacting him, I had made his whole week) but I am so thrilled that he is around for me to take that often missed opportunity to let someone - even a stranger or brief acquaintance, know how much he or she has had an impact, no matter the size, on my life.
So I am anxiously waiting to get the next note from my 'new' friend and I will cherish every word that is written. I'd bet I might even learn a few things. Who knows... I might even go to tea! What I've learned so far....... Take that opportunity to let someone know about a moment they hold in your memory - believe me, it's worth it.
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