Touched Forever...

Two years ago the stalking began.  Six weeks straight.  Every morning I found my pregnant, hormonal self frantically logging into to our school district’s student site to determine who would have the honor of teaching my first-born son in first grade.  “Unassigned” appeared day after day.  Until one early August morning.  The day had come.  There was a name.  One simple word – Albright.  As every loving mother does, the interrogation of more seasoned neighborhood parents began.  Who was this mysterious woman – Albright?  How connected was she with parents?  What was her communication style?  Classroom discipline philosophy?  The questions came fast and furious.  Max’s only question – was she nice? 

My overly emotional pregnant brain and heart were quickly put at ease.  Every time I announced Max was assigned “Albright”, the response was unanimous.  “You are so lucky.”  Even fellow students proclaimed their jealousy of Max’s assignment. 

August 30^th finally rolled around and with tear-filled eyes I watched Max board the bus.  I spent the day counting down until 3:50 when the bus would deliver the little boy I will always think of as my baby back to me…and along with it my heart.   When the bus doors flung open and Max bounded off the bus with a huge smile, I knew we were off to a good start.   

Friendships were instantly made.  Funny stories were told from each day.  Classmates quickly became fiercely loyal of each other.  Collaboration became second nature.  A negative word was never uttered of another classmate.  

As the year went on, Max began openly sharing tidbits of Mrs. Albright’s life with us – her favorite food, her husband’s devotion to her, funny stories of her children, pictures from vacation, her love of Dunkin’ Donuts iced tea.  At first, I must admit I found it odd that Max knew so much about his teacher.  Within a few months, it suddenly became clear to me though – as many fun and quirky things that Max knew about Mrs. Albright, she knew an equal amount about each and every one of her students.    

Towards the end of first grade, rumors started swirling that Mrs. Albright was moving up to second grade.   Could it be true?  Would she keep her same kids?  I tried to tame my exuberance until the rumors were confirmed.  Then, mid-August a sense of relief and downright giddiness overtook our house – the rumors were true.

As the first day of second grade rolled around, Max practically ran to the bus stop.   The excitement of knowing who was waiting on the other end of his bus ride was almost too much to handle.   The beginning of the school year was filled with stories of summer adventures and the return of recess basketball games among close friends.  As the holidays quickly approached, I received an email from Mrs. Albright.  It was a short friendly note to let me know that she overheard Max talking with his friends about the Elf on the Shelf.  He shared with his friends that his Elf had not arrived in our house yet, but he searches for him upon waking up each morning.  (Before I get the “Bad Mommy Award”, it was on the list of things to get.  But, I digress.)  Mrs. Albright was letting me know in case we were interested in looking into an Elf.  She felt it would be something Max would really enjoy.  I was dumb-founded.  A woman with three young children of her own and a class of 24 children she loves as her own took the time to email me about something so seemingly small.  A few days later, she followed up with a few sentences describing Max’s joy over Andy’s arrival.  This is just one example of the countless times over the past two years Mrs. Albright has shown the little things do make a difference.     

In May, the hugs at the end of the day from Mrs. Albright started getting a little tighter.  End-of-year party planning began.  The time was coming to say good-bye.  Then, an email.  An invitation to view a video of the past two years Mrs. Albright made for each of her students.  Hundreds of pictures lovingly set to music.  Each one painstakingly selected in the same way a mother selects pictures for a holiday card.  As Mrs. Albright addressed the parents during the viewing party, there was not a dry eye in the class.  Pure love and dedication flowed from her.  Picture after picture of classmates hugging each other, laughing with each, loving each other.   

The day finally arrived that I had been dreading since September.  Max’s last day of school – his last day as a student of Mrs. Albright.  I could tell the day was going to be emotional for Max.  He was becoming more withdrawn all week and very jittery the night before.   Lucy, Charlie and I walked Max to the bus his last day of second grade.  With a lump in my throat, I kissed him good-bye and waved frantically as the bus drove away.  I instantly flashed back two years to the first time Max boarded that same bus.  Two years of kissing Max good-bye each morning knowing he was running from my arms into a classroom filled with love, respect and friendship.   

As I did his first day of school, I watched the seconds tick by until the bus was scheduled to drop him home.  Only on this day, I wished for time to standstill.  I did not want Max’s time with his teacher and classmates to come to an end.  My heart ached as the clock moved closer and closer to 3:50.  I slowly walked to the bus stop dreading what was waiting for me.  As the roar of the kids on bus could be heard coming down the street, I knew the little boy I love so very much was probably not among those cheering as another school year came to an end.  Max was the first off the bus as doors opened.  Only on this day, his smile was replaced by tears.  Tears mourning the end of once-in-a-lifetime experience.    

As I tried comforting Max through his tears, the only words that I could muster through my own tears were probably of little solace.  “You are so lucky.  Most people go through life never having experienced a Mrs. Albright in their life.  You got to experience her love for two years.”   As I uttered those words, a part of me realized I am a little jealous of Max.  I most certainly have had great teachers in my life.  But, I have never had a Mrs. Albright. 

Somewhere in all of this a few things were taught.  Addition and subtraction were mastered.  Printed letters turned into cursive writing.  Easy reading books became chapter books.  Funny thing is that somewhere along the way, I stopped caring about most of this and became much more interested in the interpersonal connections – who Max played with at recess, how Mrs. Albright’s weekend was and if Max worked together with his friends to solve problems.  I guess Mrs. Albright taught me something too – education isn’t about the ABC’s and 123’s.  It is about learning how to live life demonstrating respect and compassion for each other.  I go to bed each night with a little bit more hope than I did two years ago because there are 24 young people who have a pretty good shot at making this world a better place because of Mrs. Albright.

In the meantime, I will once again spend my summer stalking the district’s website for Max’s third grade assignment – knowing there will only ever be one Mrs. Albright.