Thursday Thing One and Thing Two (letters)

Yes it's Friday, but these happened on Thursday:

1) I finally wrote a letter (well email) to my high school English teacher, thanking him for being so awesome. He was by far my best teacher in high school and his influence lasted for long after that. Not only did his enthusiasm and sheer coolness (he was the teacher that wore jeans, talked about music, and some of the girls had crushes on - yep, I was included) turn me onto literature like never before, but really it was the respect for his students that made the biggest difference. He led us in these great philosophical discussions, but he was much more the facilitator than the taskmaster. He expected us to have good ideas and to help him arrive at a better understanding of the meaning of literature, just like he helped us. I was already a pretty independent person, but he helped me trust and challenge my own brain as a teenager when we got plenty of messages that we were not good enough and the bane of everyone's existence. I have also tried to emulate his style in teaching when I have taught, which is above all else to expect your students to be up to the challenge, to respect them and their ideas, and to treat them as near-equals (hey, you still have to give them a grade).

He replied to my email soon after I sent it, sincerely and sweetly telling how much it had meant to him. I could also tell he is still the intelligent, sensitive, and hip person I remember. I thought to myself how easy it is sometimes to make another person feel good. That was cool.

2)I got a letter from my sponsored child Raul Esteban who lives in Chile. I've been sponsoring him for over two years now and I have been mostly lazy about my sponsorship: the money gets extracted every month and I hardly notice it. Recently for his birthday, I actually sent him a real letter and birthday greeting. He returned my letter with a very enthusiastic and authentic-sounding letter of his own. I had a great time trying to translate it and then checking with the version the Children International people had put underneath it. It was such a sweet and grateful reply. I had told him about getting married and he congratulated me and "sent" me a big hug and a kiss (for El Esposo too). He said he hoped El esposo would be a good husband. It was so nice. And, by the way, yes I do have a very good husband.

It's a whole bunch of little things that make up our lives, and sometimes the little things don't seem to amount to much. But then again, sometimes they do, and then I'm like, Oh yeah, duh. That's what it's supposed to be like.