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Subject: (no subject)
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2004 07:24:29 EDT

"Heart Test"

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 stu-
dents and said that she loved them all the same. However, that was impos-
sible, 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
revi-
ewed 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Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show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 sta-
rted 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 lau-
ghter 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
sm-
artest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the
children
the same, Teddy one of her "teacher's pets.."

A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her
that she was
still 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 exp-
lained 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
tog-
ether.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 that don't know, Teddy Stoddard is the Dr. at Iowa Methodist in
Des Moines
that has the Stoddard Cancer Wing.)


"Believe in Angels, then return the favor" DR. Teddy Stoddard

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