It is interesting how much we don't remember about the most important days of our lives. I don't remember the season. I don't remember where the rest of my classmates were. I don't even remember why we were by the church.
All that I remember is Mrs. O'Rourke folding her lanky limbs to sit eye to eye with me on the small, marble front steps as I cried. I had been left out of the latest, greatest party, and to my already awkward middle school self, this was crushing.
Yet, although she was a grown up, and although she realized that this event was so small in the grand scheme of life, she sat there with me anyway. She soothed me. She affirmed me, told me that she saw something in me. And, by the end of our talk, she made me believe that that something was really there.
While I can't remember the details of that day, I will never forget those moments that I spent with my hero. I think about it all very often. That day was a turning point in my life all because of the kind heart of a dedicated teacher.
Mrs. O'Rourke has always been the teacher and woman that I wanted to be. Her tall, slender body held fire within it. She was witty, intelligent and strong. Yet, she was caring enough to listen to the tribulations of a thirteen year old. She laughed with us, yet we always knew when it was time to be serious. She pushed us, yet she taught us to love learning for the pure sake of learning.
As I sit back and reflect on her life, I realize more and more the depth of her greatness.
I doubt there is any job more important than helping a child believe in herself.
So, as I write my final goodbye (thankfully I sent her a retirement card when I heard she retired... even though that was three years before she actually did... which I found out when she wrote me a hysterical letter back... classic Mrs. O'Rourke) all I can say is that I will be eternally grateful for Mrs. O'Rourke and teachers like her who truly change the world in unfathomable ways.
I will carry you with me, Mrs. O'Rourke. Thank you.
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"This is, to me, the loveliest and saddest landscape in the world. It is the same as that on the preceding page, but I have drawn it again to impress it on your memory. It is here that the little prince appeared on Earth, and disappeared.
Look at it carefully so that you will be sure to recognize it in case you travel some day to the African desert. And, if you should come upon this spot, please do not hurry on. Wait for a time, exactly under the star. Then, if a little man appears who laughs, who has golden hair and who refuses to answer questions, you will know who he is. If this should happen, please comfort me. Send me word that he has come back."
The Little Prince
