Meeting Emily

Yesterday, Mark, Becca and I spent four or five hours at the mall (Yippee!), and then we headed over to the Olive Garden for dinner.

While we were waiting for our table, an older woman (I’m guessing 80-ish) walked in with her grandson (who was older than me). She came over and talked with Becca for a while, then took the seat next to me in the waiting area.

Becca took to her almost immediately, even letting this woman hold her new ball Mark had gotten her. Every few minutes, Becca would request it back, hold it for a while, and then hand it back to her. Emily, as she introduced herself, was just tickled to be part of such an exciting game.

While we sat, Emily began to tell me about herself. She had been a school teacher, for years, teaching at area high schools, and then at Bryant and Stratton University. She had four children, two girls and two boys, eight grandchildren, and four or five great grandchildren. All of her grandchildren had graduated college, and her eight year old great grandson had the highest overall average in his class. You could hear the pride in her voice as she talked about her family, especially her great grandson. He calls her every morning, and is trying to be the best student in his school, because she was the best teacher ever (as he says).

As we talked, she began telling me more about her life. Her first child was a boy. As was the second. Unfortunately, the second child was born at five months, and didn’t survive. He was born alive, however, but then the doctors and nurses took him away before she could see him. I cannot imagine the heartache of losing a child, but I can imagine it would be worse if you were never able to hold the child, even for a few minutes, before that. She went on to have three successful pregnancies after that, but she still carries some bitterness over the son she was never allowed to see.

Emily is such an open and caring woman, that was pretty obvious just speaking to her. She was telling me about how her family teased her about finding people to talk to everywhere they took her. I have a feeling that it started early. One of the greatest things about being a teacher, she said, was that she had been able to touch so many lives. The life of one girl in particular.

This girl in one of Emily’s classes had been going through a very hard time, and was bordering on suicidal. One day, the school principal called Emily into his office, and sat her down. “Listen,” he said, “we need you’re help. She likes you. Maybe you can talk to her.”

Emily took this girl under her wing, and the girl slowly regained her self-esteem. Her grades improved, and she developed a much healthier view of life. The girl graduated with honors, one of the top students in her class. Years later, Emily was again summoned to the Principal’s office.

“There is a woman here who wants to see you. She said she wouldn’t leave until she did.” Emily turned, and the student from all those years before was standing there. The woman came over, introduced herself, and then introduced Emily to her husband and child. “This is the woman who saved my life,” the woman told them. Emily and the woman talked for a bit. The girl had gone on to college, and now had a successful career, a wonderful family, and a happy life, which she all attributed to the time that Emily had taken with her all those years ago.

Emily went on to tell me a couple more stories before our table was ready. She also played a game of peek-a-boo with Becca. She was very soft-spoken; I struggled to hear her during some of our conversation. But she enjoyed the chance to chat, and I enjoyed the chance to listen. Emily has had such an interesting life. I’m glad I got a chance to share a little bit of it with her.

Tagged as: In the Life