>Again with the Awful
>As if Saturday’s news wasn’t enough, I got a call yesterday from a friend, telling me that Punky’s ballet teacher, our beloved Miss Linda, died on Friday.
Died. Miss Linda! What on earth is going on around here? I realize this is becoming the Gloom and Doom blog, but hell, I don’t choose what happens in my life. I just write about it. And I can’t not write about Miss Linda.
Miss Linda had been the preschool teacher for Metro Nashville’s ballet students for years. She was quiet and reserved around the parents, but some kind of magic clearly went on in her classroom, because from the moment my daughter and seven other little girls entered her class for the first time last September, they were mesmerized by her.
I asked Punky sometimes why she liked Miss Linda so much. From what I could gather, Miss Linda played the straight man with the girls, letting them act silly and then reacting, stone faced, with a deadpan, “What in the world are you doing,” at which point all of the girls collapsed in giggles.
Miss Linda holds a special place in my heart because in her patient, quiet way, she managed to change the course of my daughter’s development. During the first semester, the girls studied The Nutcracker. Each week, Miss Linda would tell them the Nutcracker story and teach them a simple dance that went with one of the scenes.
Punky was entranced. She became obsessed with The Nutcracker and, consequently, with classical music in general (which we now call “Clara music” and listen to on the radio quite often). She developed a passion for ballet dancing and spent hours twirling around the house, “practicing” for class. And she retold Miss Linda’s tales all week long, using the same grand gestures and mannerisms that Miss Linda had used.
When it came time for the final class of the semester, parents were invited in to watch. Punky performed in front of an audience for the first time.
A star was born.
Unfortunately, the last class never took place.
A few weeks before class was scheduled to end, Miss Linda got sick. She was a private person and didn’t want a fuss to be made, but I still tried to keep up with what was going on. I wanted to do something for her, but even the dance department was having trouble convincing her to allow them to simply bring her dinner.
Finally, on a day when the head of the ballet program was coming in to substitute for Miss Linda, I had Punky make her a card. She decorated the outside with pictures she had cut from a magazine, then asked for my help in spelling out what she wanted to write inside.
Painstakingly, she wrote in her own words, “I love the things you teach me.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
I tell you this only because I am the queen of good intentions. So often I mean to help others, to let them know I care about them or that I’m grateful to them, but then I get wrapped up in my own busy life and never quite get around to acting on my impulses.
The truth is, I never know which of those opportunities will be my last. I could very easily have been “too busy” to have helped Punky make a card for Miss Linda that day. That would have haunted me later.
I hope this post is a reminder to me and to you to reach out to others more often- to make that cake, to write that note, to invite that friend to lunch, to check in on that elderly neighbor.
To thank that teacher who has awakened a passion in your child and put a brand new sparkle in her eye.
Thank you, Miss Linda. We will always remember you.
>Isn’t it amazing how some people can enter your life for a short time, but leave it altered in such a way that you’ll never forget them? What a beautiful post. I feel sure that Miss Linda was as blessed by Punky as Punky was by Miss Linda.
>It may seem sad to talk about the people around us who have passed away- but you do it so positively! These people DESERVE to be remembered so beautifully. There was no gloom and doom in this post, or in the last one 🙂
>Oh, so sad. I'm sorry! But a true lesson that Punky & you took the time for that card. That's one seriously cute ballerina you've got.
>I have a lot of cards I MEAN to mail, too. Hopefully this will convince me to send them NOW, not later.
>Both wonderful posts, so sorry for the losses.
>Gah! So sorry for yet another hit for the Ferriers this month. I had a similar reaction earlier this month when we lost one of my mom’s best friends who was like a second mother to me. I was so RELIEVED that I had shared with her how much she meant to me. As hard as her death has been, at least I know that she knew that she meant the world to me.
>I am so sorry for Punky’s loss (and yours as well). It really takes a special person to reach children the way it sounds like Miss Linda did.
>What a privilege to have had a lady like Miss Linda in your daughter’s life. I hope more than anything that your little Punky is doing ok with the news and I am terribly sorry for the losses in your life this week.
>Ugg…tug at my heart already..very sorry once again.
>So Sorry about Miss Linda. Compassionate teachers are such a gift.
>i’m so happy Punky got to make her a card, i am sure it was treasured. She looked like a lovely lady! I am so sorry for your’s and Punky’s loss. Shannon
>What a heartbreaking thing to hear–but I imagine your daughter’s card was the most treasured thing she read before she died.
>I remember my first dance teachers – Miss Vicky & Miss Judy and how much they taught me about without me really realizing it. There's something about dance class and little girls…even though it wasn't my niche, per say, it introduced me a little more into the world. I'm sorry for your loss…it is always more tragic when you're unprepared. However, I think that Miss Linda would have gotten a kick out of your post and from those pics of Punky, she HAD to have gotten some joy from her as well!
>I just started crying. Hearing students say, “I love the things you teach me” is what we teachers live for. I’m glad your daughter got to express that to her dear Ms. Linda.
>I’m so sorry for yours and for little Punky’s loss…
>I’m so sorry to hear about Miss Linda. I’m betting Punky’s card to her really meant alot to her and how great is it that you have a picture of Punky and Miss Linda together. I think it’s frame worthy!
>My family has also lost two friends in the last month. Both, unfortunately, were tragic accidents. Combining that with everything else that’s going on, it can’t help to me but feel like the sky is falling.
>Once again, a life lived beautifully! This may seem like doom and gloom and the hardest part about this is that it touches your little one, but the best we can do is to make the most of what time we’re graced with! As for Miss Punky, my very best friend lost her mom when we were 12. Though that’s older than Punky, it taught me that life is as precious as it is finite, and though I’ve had plenty of screw-ups between then and now, I can’t say that I ever wasted a day. Oh! And that you DID make and send that card is FANTASTIC!! Another loving lesson for your little one, as well as a precious gift to her teacher (few things ever touched my soul like gifts from students)!! You’ve also, once again, delivered a beautiful eulogy to a special life.Live every day like your last! I had that burned into my heart at 12when my best friend lost her mom and I haven’t lost it since.I, on the other hand, just learned that a friend’s niece is missing- 17 years old and hasn’t been heard from since Sat- it doesn’t look good at all. I just sat down my 12 year old daughter and her friend AGAIN to go over how important it is to never go off alone. Brittanee Drexel from NY, last seen in Myrtle Beach.
>Awww, I’m so sorry! That is such sad news. How is Punky handling it?
>Damn…I know that sometimes, stuff like this comes in threes.I sincerely hope you and Punky are spared a third.Condolences and a *hug*.
>Oh sweet Lindsay, what a season of loss you’ve had. I am so sorry that there have been so many goodbyes in your life recently. Thinking of you…
>That is just sad. I am glad you got a chance to honor Miss Linda. Your daughter might not remember her in years to come, but you will and you will be able to remind your daughter fo the lessons taught.
>That is so sad!! What a beautiful tribute. I’m so glad you sent that card!
>Well, I’m doing something I never thought I’d do by reading Suburban Turmoil. Crying. God, that was beautiful. It’s people like Miss Linda that make you realize how lucky and blessed you were to cross paths with them in life.
>Miss Linda sounds like she was a true light. Being a dancer, I know how special a dance teacher can be. How awesome your Punky got to learn from her!God bless Miss Linda and I am so sorry for your loss.
>I’m sorry you’ve all lost such a lovely lady. I’m sure she must have loved what Punky wrote in the card, that was perfect.
>That wasn’t awful at all. It was beautiful. What a wonderful tribute!
>when it rains, it pours 🙁 I'm sorry about your loss, I think it's great your daughter found ballet, I can't wait to have my little girl <3
>So Sad someone like Miss Linda had to go so soon 🙁 You did a wonderful job with remembering her. The card must have melted Miss Linda’s heart. The picture of Punky dancing shows just how free she felt expressing herself. What a wonderful gift it was to have Miss Linda in your lives even if was only for a moment. Let those you love know you love them everyday because you just never know when you will have to say goodbye.
>So sad, and so sorry. Thanks for the reminder to take the time to reach out.
>Wow, first Dan, then Marie, now Miss Linda. I’ve also lost 3 people in the past 2 weeks. They say it comes in 3’s. I hope this is it, for both our sakes.For Punky to write what she did in the card… it only confirms what an amazing job Miss Linda did working as a positive force in children’s lives. And it also goes to show what a beautiful spirit Punky has, along with how you’ve nurtured that spirit in her. Your tributes have been beautiful. They’ve made me cry, but they’ve also made me smile.