As we grow older, we often forget the teachers of us childhoodThose who shaped us quietly and had a hand to cultivate our growth long before we realized it. They could cross our minds from time to time, but if we are lucky, those who have really affected our growth and growth remain with us – either throughout the trip or, in my case, reappear almost 30 years later.
I was a shy kid and the opening to anyone outside my immediate family was unheard of. I still remember my first day at school. My mom and dad got me out of the car as she kicked and shouted, begging them not to make me go to this place. Some would say I was spoiled. I say I was deeply loved at home. I just had to feel safe, definitely a sense of comfort that someone had my back as I got into the corridors of what I considered to be unknown.
That everything changed in the first grade, thanks to Miss Kish (as I knew before getting married and Mrs Spurio). He saw me. It helped me bloom. Her impact was so deep that even now, in my 30s, I find myself telling anyone who will hear how much she helped to cultivate the person who will become early. Excellence was its model, and if you started to lack your best self, it gently and with love.
I will never forget the quiet transformation. From the child who shouted daily during school decisions, I became the one who begs to fall early. I was proud to have been her morning assistant. I felt that I saw and wore the title with full price. It was then that I started blooming completely and getting out of my own contraction at school. I published socially and academically under Miss Kish’s watch. I won the spelling bee, he was a leading reader in my class and leaned into my creativity by writing fantastic stories.
Anyone who has ever been deeply influenced by a great teacher knows – their influence does not end with the school year.
I was also fully committed to joining class and practicing my public speech skills. All of these tools would later help me in life, both in social and professional environments, and to help build my career, to exhaust my skill sets and to unintentionally shape my future as a journalist, both behind the keyboard and in front of the camera. By the end of school yearThis shy baby girl had come in full bloom.
According to the site, We are teachers“79% of students say that a teacher encouraged them to follow their dreams.” I am one of them. I have brought this confidence with me for years, without ever waiting for our paths to pass almost three decades later. But as anyone who has ever been deeply influenced by a great teacher knows – their influence does not end with the school year. Stay with you. And in my case, he returned the full cycle.
Fast forward, and I received an unexpected but enjoyable surprise message from Mrs Spurio. Every emotion has rushed. I reiterate her message many times and sat with him for a few weeks before I finally hit the answer.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to reconnect. It was actually the opposite. I had been thinking for years and tried to do a little research to find it, but I always came soon. Ironically, about two years earlier, during a conversation with ABC news 20/20 co-axis and New York Times Best-selling writer Deborah RobertsI mentioned how determined I was to find my first degree teacher. When reading her book, Lessons and Favorites: The teacher who changed my lifeI found the thoughts from others about the teachers who inspired them. At that moment he put a seed and their stories made me think, “What would I say to Miss Kish if I ever have the opportunity?”
Well, I got this opportunity – and it was everything the little girl needed inside me. We laughed, hugged, shared stories and made completely for the lost time. As I get older, I realize how important it is to do space for what really matters: to be present even when life tries to pull you up, down and all around a million directions. The reality is that there will always be something to do, our calendars will always be full and there will always be items waiting for our directories. But when someone specifically reappears in your life, you have to take the opportunity and make the time happen. And that’s exactly what I did.
If we are lucky, those who have really affected our growth and growth remain with us – either throughout the trip or, in my case, reappear almost 30 years later.
Let me tell you, my heart overflows with so much joy. I was proud to be able to make it happen and honor to do it. After some back-and-forth, our schedules are in line. I went on a flight back to Ohio, where we met for dinner. And to the true Mr. Spurio fashion, he didn’t come on an empty hand. She brought photographic albums filled with class pictures, a birthday card that I made at the age of six – still in excellent condition – and a story that I helped to illustrate, preserve in a plastic connective material that seemed to be created yesterday, not about decades ago.
He had poured into me then and did it again unknowingly to my old age. Now, it’s my turn to throw in it.
Mrs Spurio invested in my future without fanfare, no awards and certainly without financial compensation teachers so often they deserve. Deserves all The flowers – not only from me, but from every child whose life touched. And I know I’m not alone in these feelings. I talked to some childhood friends who were also lucky to be in her classroom and we all shared the same feeling: he learned to feel like joy. He made it fun.
Making someone feel by watching and special, it’s now my turn. So, if you read this, Mrs. Spurio, thank you from the young age of six and now adults. Thank you for your lessons and encouragement for the treatment of your students with such kindness and care. Thank you for seeing a quiet little girl and helping her find her voice. And finally, thank you for showing me – the dimensions before I knew – that believing in someone is one of the greatest gifts you can give. You helped me bloom once, and somehow, 30 years later, you did it once again.
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