A student of mine stops by after school and asks me if I have ever been emotionally depressed. I relay a few middle school stories and ask him what is going on. He tells me that he had a teacher in Singapore who had really helped him when he was a new student there. He said the teacher then suddenly died one day. Instead of going to the funeral he decided to avoid “going and placing flowers on the grave”. He nearly starts to cry. “I wish I would have gone to the funeral,” Mr. Dickey, “but I didn’t. I didn’t really have a chance to grieve. That teacher was really important to me. I became really depressed because I held my feelings in.” I ask him what he has learned from his experience. “What will you do now if something happens to someone you care about?” I ask him. “I will grieve Mr. Dickey,” he says. “I want to let others know about my story.” I think your teacher would be proud of you I tell him. Your teacher taught you a valuable lesson and it appears you have learned it well. “Yes, I want to use this in a speech for English. Do you think it will be good Mr. Dickey?” he asks hesitantly. “As long as you are real and genuine like you have been with me it will be amazing I tell him.” He thanks me and heads out the door. I love my job.
