Someone sent this story to me in one of those pass along emails. You know the ones that an endless list of addresses? At the end the sender suggested: 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…. Just ‘do it’.
Read it to the end and decide if you think it is true or false.
==================================================================
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, because there 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Teddy’s fourth grade teacher wrote, ‘Teddy is withdrawn and doesn’t show much interest in school.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 honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite 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 favorite 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 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 who don’t know, Teddy Stoddard is the Doctor at Iowa Methodist in
Des Moines that has the Stoddard Cancer Wing.
==================================================================
It did bring a tear to my eye and then I thought, let’s check out this Dr. Stoddard in Des Moines. There is a John Stoddard Cancer Clinic in Des Moines but there is no Dr. Stoddard. The whole story is just that, a work of fiction that was written over twenty years ago and actually appeared in one of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Some creative type out there in cyber space took the liberty of a little rewrite to add the part about the Stoddard Clinic in Des Moines. For the full truth and nothing but the truth check out the Snopes web site.
-30-
Where Will You Live?
One of my favorite reality books is Thriving Beyond Midlife by Craig MacBean and Henry Simmons. The authors take an unconventional approach to aging and retirement. It is not a book about money and the financial side of retirement. It is a book that asks important questions and provides guidance for the future of retirees.
Section one sets the stage with a discussion of the attitudes toward aging and retirement. Section two takes on the question of “Where Will We Live”; section three delves into “How Will We Pay for It” and section four concludes with “How Will We Live?”
The “Where Will You Live” question has been on my mind since I plan to relocate to Summerville, South Carolina. MacBean and Simmons propose five answers to the “Where Will You Live” question: Home Sweet Home, The Family Plan, The Lifestyle Resort, The New Frontier and Progressive Retreat.
Home Sweet Home is the plan that keeps you in your current residence forever. You will be dragged kicking and screaming into the nursing home or carried out with your boots on. Come hell or high water you are not leaving your home.
The Family Plan has you moving in with the “kids”, whether they know it or not. The assumption here is that son & daughter-in-law or daughter and son-in-law will willingly give up one of their bedrooms and their lifestyle to take in mom and/or dad when they can no longer fend for themselves. No one usually talks about this since everything is assumed, and you know what that means.
The LifeStyle Resort has you moving into a community of folks just like yourself. The amenities, like clubhouse, trips and community restaurant are included in the buy-in fee and monthly dues. With the resort style you move along with your cohort from activity, to nursing care section, to dementia wing. Bring your money.
The New Frontier is a community of like-minded friends and/or family who join together to build a community from scratch: buy the land, build the houses, and live together as one big happy family. Everyone contributes to the New Frontier. Bring your clogs, tye-dyed shirts and guitar.
Progressive Retreat is the thinking person’s approach to the future. There is a recognition of the inevitable and a strategy to deal with it. You plan for the time to leave home-sweet-home for assisted living and know what it will take to get you into the nursing home where you can await the grim reaper. Moving in with the kids is never an option.
More on “How Do We Live” next week.
-30-