Today I Saw Lilacs...

{Today I Saw Lilacs…}

Yesterday we got new blinds that replaced the icky old curtains in this apartment.  So for the first time this morning, I opened the blinds (I have kept the curtains closed because I didn’t want to touch them).  What I saw took my breath away…fresh, purple, spring lilacs.  This is just one more instance convincing me that there is beauty all around when you take the time to notice.

Look Closer.

I think I first learned this lesson in my 7th grade Health class.  When I saw my class schedule, my heart dropped.  What luck?!  The dreaded Mrs. Gray.  I had never talked to anybody who liked her.  She was meaner than mean, crueler than cruel and often sent kids home in tears!  To top it all off, I had never heard of a single person who had ever received an A in her class.  This was the most worrisome part of all considering my 4.0 GPA.

I will never forget the encounter I had with my dad when I told him of my horrible misfortune.  He looked at me with his wise, fatherly eyes and told me to give her a chance.  He counseled me to be respectful and good in her class, and to work hard.  This I could do, I thought.  But then he told me that I might be surprised.  Mrs. Gray might become my favorite teacher, he smiled.  I agreed to do my best, but in my heart I questioned my dad's last statement.  He just doesn't know Mrs. Gray, I thought.

I had knots in my stomach all weekend long as I waited for Monday to roll along.  And it did much to my dismay.  My first day was scary of course, and Mrs. Gray did seem like the witch everyone described her to be.  But as the semester progressed, I noticed that my respect and hard work was paying off.  Before long I noticed that Mrs. Gray was taking a liking to me.  She asked me to do favors for her, and she actually smiled at me--often!  It was a miracle!  By the end of the semester, I had learned a great deal, and my grade was an A.  I realized with a little laugh that Mrs. Gray had become my most favorite teacher.  On the last day of school, I took her a bouquet of flowers and thanked her for all she had done for me.  She gave me a great big hug and showered me with compliments on my accomplishments that year.

The "Mrs. Gray experience" was so much like this banana.  Far away and according to rumored opinions, Mrs. Gray was gray and monstrous.  But up close with a magnifying glass, she was beautifully yellow...a truly golden person...that is, if you took the chance to get to know her.

Thank you Mrs. Gray...for teaching me lessons of health...and lessons of life.