About five years ago, I attended a memorial event for one of my favorite high school teachers who recently passed away. The educator’s family held the event at SBHS and invited both students and faculty from multiple generations together who were impacted by this incredible woman and educator to celebrate her life, share their stories and to honor her wonderful footprint she left not only in education but in the lives of so many of us. As I attentively listened to each individual who approached the podium. The stories shared became very telling, despite having different generations of students speak from the heart on how she touched their lives, a recurring common theme presented itself. This highly esteemed educator always lived in the moment of the present. She had an uncanny and unique ability to get to know each of one us and made us feel as if we were the most important person when we had one-on-one time with her. Somehow, she was genuinely able to get to know us individually on a deeper level greater than any other teacher any of us ever had. Her love was unconditional and was truly without prejudices towards any kind regardless of any differences we may have had. No matter how full her schedule seemed, she always managed to always find time to meet individually, when we felt our world was falling apart and we needed someone to talk to.
At the conclusion of the memorial event, to my surprise, Mrs. Rosa Parra, my second-year Spanish language teacher, recognized me in the crowd and acknowledged me first. Mrs. Parra definitely was the one of those teachers who fulfilled the role of being a great teacher outside the parameters of not just teaching her academic component but who extended life’s lessons beyond the classroom. She too, was one of those teachers who made a difference by simply being there for her students. Although, I did not necessarily grasp much of the Spanish language, then again language was definitely not one of my strengths, however, her passion in sharing the culture and traditions of Spanish speaking lands fascinated me. As she approached me, she greeted me with a loving embrace, just as if I was family member she had not seen in a long time. We briefly chatted and promised a get together soon, to further catch up and share my days since high school. Prior to our making definitive plans to meet, my favorite saying came into play, once again, “Life gets in the way of living.” The pandemic broke out and the world shut down paired with health issues both of our families faced coupled with other interruptions and distractions. It goes without saying our much-anticipated lunch and catch up was postponed. Shortly after seeing Mrs. Parra at the memorial, I began writing an acrostic poem about my memories of her and finished it in April 2019. I knew, my faith would fulfill my wishes in eventually bring us together when the time is right. This would allow time to catch up and allow me the opportunity to present my gift.
After several chats on social media, we finally, made a date for it to happen. On March 21, 2024, I had the pleasure of finally having our long-awaited lunch happen. The day finally arrived; I would be remiss if I said my nerves were not a little heightened. It was a typical south Florida winter afternoon with comfortable temperatures, making it the picture perfect chamber of commerce type of day. It matched to the day, perhaps it was God’s blessing on finally being able to get together. Over lunch we shared what transpired over the years since my graduation. Mostly good happenings in our lives and some of our more challenging times were shared freely. Before we both knew it, several hours passed by, much faster than I would have hoped; but it gave us both time to reflect on memories and most importantly for me to thank her not necessarily for the academic lessons I learned, but the many lessons of life she passed on and most importantly being there during some of my toughest times of my high school years.
Just before we said our good-byes, I presented her the gift of my acrostic poem wrapped up intentionally in a sheet of a current newspaper. I felt my voice choke with emotions as I thanked her for being a part of my journey when then roads weren’t freshly paved but were mostly a bumpy gravel country dirt road. With tears of gratitude streaming down my face, I watched her remain speechless as she finished reading it. It was then my words indeed proved once again, my written word speaks louder than spoken word. Though we could have continued chatting for another couple more hours, we asked a member take our picture before we finalized our last words. With a loving embrace and her expressing appreciation for her gift, we said a final good-bye and promised to find time to do it again and not wait for time to pass us by. The poem can be found in my blog as Recuerdo Cuando (I Remember When).
posted in April 2019.
Blessings to you Mrs. Parra, thank you for being a part of my journey during a time when you clearly knew what I needed more than I could possibly pinpoint it myself. It wasn’t until years after graduation and working with my own group of children and teenagers, that I know when teachers tell me that you just know, when you are in tune to the same frequencies.
Here’s to you Señora Parra,
¡Muchos Gracias! ¡Fuiste tú quien nos preparó para el éxito de la vida!
(Many thanks! It was you who staged us for life's success!)
P.S. By the way, I don’t anticipate she would remember the first speaking exercise we did on the first day of class back in 1986 … but unbeknownst to either of us at the time, the exercise introduced me to the brother from another mother or what would become my life’s best friend.
It all started simply when we had turn around and introduce ourselves to each other in Spanish,
“¡Hola! Me llamo Roberto. ¿Cómo estás? ¿En qué año estas?”
¡Fuiste tú quien nos preparó para el éxito de la vida!
It was you who staged us for life's success! .jpg)
03.21.24 - Mrs. Rosa Parra and I, Pembroke Pines, FL
No comments:
Post a Comment