The 12th Day of Christmas Joy

Dr. Sandra Kessler

Known to me as Mrs. Kessler, my 5^th grade teacher at Thornell Rd elementary school in Pittsford, NY. We all have that one teacher who had an impact on our lives and Mrs. Kessler is mine! She took me under her wing, was always my cheerleader and genuinely cared for me.

You see, I hated school and struggled through it, but Mrs. Kessler never gave up on me and was always trying to ignite a love of learning in me. She believed in me when I didn’t know how to believe in myself. I am sure I infuriated her half the time (most of the time), but again she never gave up on me and there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of her. 

She gave me the cartoon above hoping that it might make me work harder. She had it laminated and taped it up in one of the cabinets in our classroom as a reminder to me. I don’t know how or why, but I have never lost it through all these years and many moves.

I had completely forgotten that I even had it, until I randomly came across it one day around 2004. I called her at that moment and to my surprise, she answered. We had a wonderful conversation catching up on each other’s lives. I told her how she was my person who had a major impact on my life and she told me “there are days as a teacher that you question why you do this and then there is a student that reminds you why and you are that student.” I was shocked to hear that, because to me, she was my person, not the other way around.

I was even more fortunate to get to visit with her a couple of different times before she lost her battle with cancer.

Mrs. Kessler – there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about you. I have passed on your spelling techniques to my own girls and still remember your stress reducing activities to relieve test anxiety. Thank you for believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself and thank you for providing me with a lifetime of 

JOY!

Who is your person? I would love to hear about them.