Teacher, Heal Thyself!
by
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Laurie Madison glanced at her teacher, realized that he wasn’t looking in her direction and used the opportunity to retrieve the wadded note. Quietly, she unfolded the ball of paper. The words glared at her, screamed that she shouldn’t see them, that they were private and carried only bitterness and pain. After reading the first lines of the note, she cried-out without realizing she had. "Dear God, no!" and then lowered her head onto her chest for a moment. As she did, an observant person would have realized that she was crying. But in the confusion and dazed state that described the classroom during those few moments, her action and reaction went unobserved. With a fractured, bitter determination, she read on until the end, then passed the note behind her. Her face had transformed from beautiful complexion to pallid - corpse-like. Still in shock, nobody noticed. Why did she cry? Because in the reading of the note, Laurie Madison knew that she had also lost. By the time Greg Wilson again turned toward his students, everybody had read the note and finally, they all understood his actions. The teacher again yelled at them. "I told you to get out, to leave me alone. Why can’t you just leave me alone? Get out of my class, get out of my sight!" He became verbally abusive, even physically threatening. Then yet another time, he folded into tears. Afraid that the man would do something violent, half of the class quietly left. But Laurie Madison and a core group of seniors remained in their seats. They were quiet, respectful, and certainly tearful. For most of those remaining, what had happened was a first exposure to such a hard lesson of life, and they didn’t know how to handle it. A few, like Laurie Madison, had already known such hurt in their lives and remarkably, they had learned from their pain. They would be his salvation. A last horrific reaction, Greg Wilson screamed for everybody to leave. His agony was very pronounced in his face and actions. They saw and they understood, but they ignored what he was yelling at them - it was time for the students to teach their teacher. First Laurie Madison stood, and then the rest of the class did the same. Instead of leaving, they slowly, quietly walked to the front of the classroom. As a group, they raised their teacher from his torture-chamber on the floor and supported him with their hugs and tears. While the emotional rescue was underway, the lady from the office returned. She’d finally found enough courage to tell the class what was happening. But what she saw only confirmed to her that she didn’t belong so close to such pain, so she quietly re-closed the door and returned to the safety of her office. The last student to read the message now returned it to Laurie, and she read it once more. Her pallor still remained, and her hands were shaking so violently that she needed to put the paper on her desktop to read it. Her throat felt like it was trying to choke her; her stomach was tying itself in knots. There were tears in her eyes as she scanned the short note, a note whose message was final, irreversible.
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About the Book
Greg Wilson would argue that broken branches could break minds and futures, and with some authority. But most things in life, even if broken by trees, can be repaired and occasionally improved upon; sometimes, even people can fit that mold. Once he gains the experience – through his own emotional disintegration – he becomes the focal point of amazing transformations. His mature caring allows him to help others, and in very unusual manner. His growth is slow and sometimes seemingly contradictory, from teacher and mentor to ranch-hand to sheepherder, and finally, back to teacher and mentor. Even in his darkest hours, he’s storing and accumulating what’s he learned. But in his brightest hours, he can cure broken minds and hearts with his inspirational strengths. It’s in the latter persona that he draws a cluster of the most remarkable people – each with their own story, their own contribution. And then there’s the hauntingly chilling end of the story and "the voice." Those present then reach beyond any destination or experience any of them have ever visited with perhaps the exception of one – the Navajo princess.
About the Author
I live in Livermore, California. My wife and I share our children-vacated home with Sam, a German Shorthair/Labrador mix that we rescued from the animal shelter. Sam thinks he owns us – a strong possibility – and generously let’s us live at his house. Aside from writing, my wife and I both enjoy tent camping in the Sierra Nevada and travel – especially by rail. We also enjoy visits to our grandchildren, Cameron and Anna Kathleen, who live in Oregon. This is my third published novel. The first, Broken Minds & Broken Hearts was published in February 2000. The second, Jack of All Trades came out in October 2000.