A Gift of Gratitude to His Teacher

Ruby began this story like the master storyteller she is. We family and friends who had gathered on our Louisiana farm to celebrate my 70th birthday, sat in the big rocking chairs on the front porch, rested shoulders against the brick wall or teetered crazily on wobbly legs of those ugly plastic chairs which we always pulled out when company comes.
All of us there, except the young ones, had known Ruby all of her life. Her mother and mine had been in the little Converse hospital together when we were born. Ruby preceded me by three days, so she will always be a step ahead, older and wiser. She is a funny girl, but likes to be under the radar at large gatherings, and I was particularly happy that she had come to my party.
Unlike most people who have her natural wit and like to enjoy making others laugh, she has to be coaxed to take the floor. But here she is; I’ll let her tell it in her own slow Louisiana way – just don’t rush the story. You’ll be glad she decided to come and even more delighted by the experience says she shared.
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“A former student of mine gave me and a companion
(anybody I wanted to invite) an all-expenses-paid trip to anywhere in the world.”
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“Well, ya’ll know I don’t answer my telephone all of the time or even check the messages that people leave. So someone (I can’t tell you who because I have been sworn to secrecy) called me the other day and said, ‘Miss Ruby, you better check your phone messages because there is something important on there and time is running out.’ So I checked my messages and pretty soon found out what was going on.
“Someone (no, I will never tell anybody, I’ve already told you, I promised!), a former student of mine gave me and a companion (anybody I wanted to invite) an all-expenses-paid trip to anywhere in the world I wanted to go. Of course I jumped at the offer.
“Everything was first class, starting with the airfare, five-star hotels, and the biggest, blackest Mercedes-Benz I’ve ever seen, and good grief, even a driver who pulled up in front of our hotel every morning.
“He was just waiting there to take us wherever our imaginations dictated… and dictate we did! Among the best things we saw were the Vatican, and those ruins in Rome. From the Holy City, we went to Amsterdam and what a contrast! In Amsterdam everything in the world is legal. My Pentecostal upbringing did not prepare me for that show! Let’s just say we were “Innocents Abroad,” and Sabine Parish, Louisiana began to look like just playing at being bad. There was a temptation in every doorway.”
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It took most of us some time to absorb this most unlikely story, but there was Ruby, straight-faced serious!
Well, whom did you take, and who in this red-necked dirt poor parish of Louisiana has that much money?
Ruby gave us only a glimpse of that fairytale millionaire’s European Grand Tour with her lucky companion, but the gift itself spoke volumes! It told of a child who was touched and changed by learning. It spoke of one who had good fortune and wanted to share it with the teacher who opened up the world to him. It spoke of a generous heart and a person who wanted no recognition for a good deed.
So a word to my friend, Ruby, and all good teachers: The gift of igniting a child’s desire to learn is priceless, and as you receive the little tokens at the end of the year expressing their love and thanks, understand that your work is a calling and thank-yous come in many forms – maybe even an out-of-this-world trip to anywhere in the world.
Have a great summer!
Patricia Hall
From the Bible – The Law of the Lord is a lamp, and its teachings shine brightly. Proverbs 6:23