On Gratitude, Part 2

My teacher, my mentor, my fashion consultant,
my confidant, my friend!

If you have ever taught middle school or high school, then you might have come across a certain type of kid. This kid is someone who is not good at being a kid. She is sweet, if a little awkward, but has a much easier time talking to adults than talking to her peers. She is someone who isn't having a great time of things as an adolescent, but you know that once she grows up, she'll be fine (or even great.)

Dear readers, I was that kid. I do not look back on most of middle school or high school fondly. I was a little too serious for my own good, and never quite figured out how to navigate cafeterias or parties. Thankfully, life got much better for me once I got older and grew into myself a bit, but it was rough going for a while.

The one exception to this rule is my 8th grade year, which I remember as being almost exclusively happy, in large part because of the woman you see in the picture above-- my 8th grade English teacher, Molly.

Molly was one of those exceptional teachers you remember forever. She was great at making the seemingly dull interesting and the irrelevant feel like the most pertinent thing in your life. She taught me how to write, and also how to think. But most importantly of all, she taught my class how to be a family, and she taught me that who I was as a student would never be as important as who I was as person. For a kid who had trouble fitting in, this was the biggest gift of all.

Sorry for the mirror selfie. I realized I missed the
whole outfit picture

Luckily, 8th grade was not the end of my time with Molly! My sister is very close with Molly's daughter, so we saw each other over the years, and when I moved back to New York, I started going to her synagogue every week. Eventually, we were on the board of the synagogue together and we sit a few rows apart from each other every week. Molly has become a great friend to me, weighing in on anything I need advice on, whether mundane or weighty. (She tells me I wear too much black, so in her honor, I wore this colorful shirt from Stitch Fix.)

So I was delighted to join her a few weeks ago to celebrate her retirement after 40(!) years of teaching. It was amazing to see how many of her students came from over the years, and also how many of us are working in education. I have no doubt that that is not a coincidence that we were all in Molly's class. So here's a toast to Molly! Thank you for everything you have taught and given me inside and outside of the classroom. Here's hoping to many adventures on the next stage of your journey!

What I'm wearing: Fun2Fun Blouse via Stitch Fix, Boden pleated skirt, b.o.c. sandals via DSW