Teddy's Story
Teddy Stollard certainly qualified as one of the least. Disinterested in school, musty, wrinkled clothes, hair never combed. One of those kids in school with a deadpan face and expressionless stare. When Mrs. Thompson spoke to Teddy, he always answered in monosyllables. Unattractive, unmotivated, and distant, he was just plain hard to like. Even though his teacher said that she loved all the children in her class equally, deep down inside she knew she wasn’t being completely truthful. Whenever she marked Teddy’s papers, she got a certain perverse pleasure out of putting x’s next to the wrong answers, and when she put the F at the top of the paper she did it with a flair. She should have known better. She had Teddy’s records, and she knew more about him than she wanted to admit. The records read:
1st Grade Teddy shows promise with his work and attitude, but poor home situation.
2nd Grade Teddy could do better. Mother is seriously ill. He receives little help at home.
3rd Grade Teddy is a good boy, but much too serious. He is a slow learner. His mother died this year.
4th Grade Teddy is very slow, but well behaved. His father shows no interest.
Christmas came and the boys and girls in Mrs. Thompson’s class bought her Christmas presents. They piled the presents high on her desk and crowded around to watch her open them. Among the presents there was one from Teddy Stollard. She was surprised that he had even bought a gift at all, but he had. Teddy’s gift was wrapped in brown paper and was held together with scotch tape. On the paper were written the simple words, “For Mrs. Thompson, From Teddy.” When she opened the present, a gaudy rhinestone bracelet with half the stones missing fell out along with a bottle of cheap perfume. The other boys and girls began to giggle and smirk over Teddy’s gifts, but Mrs. Thompson at least had enough sense to silence them by immediately putting on the bracelet and putting on some of the perfume. Holding her wrist out for the other children to smell she said, “Doesn’t it smell lovely?” All the children, taking the cue from the teacher, readily agreed with oohs and aahs. At the end of the day, when school was over and the other children had left, Teddy lingered behind. He slowly came over to her desk, and said softly, “Mrs. Thompson….Mrs. Thompson, you smell just like my mother and her bracelet looks pretty on you too. I’m glad you like my present.” When Teddy left, Mrs. Thompson got down on her knees and asked God to forgive her.
The next day when the children came to school, they were welcomed by a new teacher. Mrs. Thompson had become a different person. She was no longer just a teacher; she had become an agent of God. And she was now a person committed to loving her children and doing things for them that would live on after her. She helped all the children, but especially the slow ones, and especially Teddy Stollard. By the end of that school year, Teddy showed dramatic improvement. He had caught up with most of the students, and was even ahead of some.
She didn’t hear from Teddy for a long time, then one day she received a note that read.
Dear Mrs. Thompson
I wanted you to be the first to know that I will be graduating second in my class.
Love, Teddy Stollard
Four years later came another note.
Dear Mrs. Thompson
They just told me that I will be graduating first in my class. I wanted you to be the first to know. The university has not been easy, but I’ve liked it.
Love, Teddy Stollard
And four years later.
Dear Mrs. Thompson,
As of today, I am Theodore Stollard, MD. How about that? I wanted you to be the first to know. I am getting married next month, the 27th to be exact. I wanted you to come and sit where my mother would sit if she were alive. You are the only family I have now.
Dad died last year.
Love, Teddy Stollard
A HUNDRED YEARS from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove. But the world may be different, because I was important in the life of a boy.
.
1st Grade Teddy shows promise with his work and attitude, but poor home situation.
2nd Grade Teddy could do better. Mother is seriously ill. He receives little help at home.
3rd Grade Teddy is a good boy, but much too serious. He is a slow learner. His mother died this year.
4th Grade Teddy is very slow, but well behaved. His father shows no interest.
Christmas came and the boys and girls in Mrs. Thompson’s class bought her Christmas presents. They piled the presents high on her desk and crowded around to watch her open them. Among the presents there was one from Teddy Stollard. She was surprised that he had even bought a gift at all, but he had. Teddy’s gift was wrapped in brown paper and was held together with scotch tape. On the paper were written the simple words, “For Mrs. Thompson, From Teddy.” When she opened the present, a gaudy rhinestone bracelet with half the stones missing fell out along with a bottle of cheap perfume. The other boys and girls began to giggle and smirk over Teddy’s gifts, but Mrs. Thompson at least had enough sense to silence them by immediately putting on the bracelet and putting on some of the perfume. Holding her wrist out for the other children to smell she said, “Doesn’t it smell lovely?” All the children, taking the cue from the teacher, readily agreed with oohs and aahs. At the end of the day, when school was over and the other children had left, Teddy lingered behind. He slowly came over to her desk, and said softly, “Mrs. Thompson….Mrs. Thompson, you smell just like my mother and her bracelet looks pretty on you too. I’m glad you like my present.” When Teddy left, Mrs. Thompson got down on her knees and asked God to forgive her.
The next day when the children came to school, they were welcomed by a new teacher. Mrs. Thompson had become a different person. She was no longer just a teacher; she had become an agent of God. And she was now a person committed to loving her children and doing things for them that would live on after her. She helped all the children, but especially the slow ones, and especially Teddy Stollard. By the end of that school year, Teddy showed dramatic improvement. He had caught up with most of the students, and was even ahead of some.
She didn’t hear from Teddy for a long time, then one day she received a note that read.
Dear Mrs. Thompson
I wanted you to be the first to know that I will be graduating second in my class.
Love, Teddy Stollard
Four years later came another note.
Dear Mrs. Thompson
They just told me that I will be graduating first in my class. I wanted you to be the first to know. The university has not been easy, but I’ve liked it.
Love, Teddy Stollard
And four years later.
Dear Mrs. Thompson,
As of today, I am Theodore Stollard, MD. How about that? I wanted you to be the first to know. I am getting married next month, the 27th to be exact. I wanted you to come and sit where my mother would sit if she were alive. You are the only family I have now.
Dad died last year.
Love, Teddy Stollard
A HUNDRED YEARS from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove. But the world may be different, because I was important in the life of a boy.
.
