The one thing we will remember

No one told me they remembered the moment I taught them about photosynthesis.

No one thanked me for teaching them the multiplication table.

No one mentioned their scores from any test they ever took while I was their teacher.

But they all told me about, they all thanked me for, and they all in some way mentioned one thing.

It was obviously the most important thing for them all.

For most, this one thing was pretty much all they seemed to remember.

It was the only thing that was mentioned in some way or form by all of the 452 former students with whom I spoke yesterday, at our first Mr. Talley/Student Reunion at Sugar Hollow Park in Bristol VA.

And what was this one thing?

Before I tell you, let me share one very brief related story that exemplifies what bigger truth I’m striving to tell here. The best stories have a way of telling the truth, often far better than simply telling the truth does.

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A few years back I visited my old college golf coach. Charlie King was nearly ninety by then. His wife had been stricken with advanced Alzheimer’s disease. As Coach King and I talked and reminisced, Mrs. King was there with us - but she spoke not a word. Her face displayed an almost lifeless stare - a face all too familiarly worn by those who suffer the fate of this tragic disease.

Suddenly (and seemingly out of nowhere) Mrs. King perked up, looked me straight in the eyes, and said, “I don’t remember who you are. But I remember you were good to me.” Then, as quickly as she had so briefly lifted momentarily out of it, this dear lady fell back into mental oblivion.

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Now. Back to the reunion yesterday.

I taught nearly 2,000 children during my career. I also taught nearly 2,000 jail inmates (indeed, several were there yesterday).

One by one, from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., many former students came through the line toward where I sat. Often they had their families with them.