No Tears

Dedicated to my Algebra teacher, Ms. Nichole Caisse

  I started to walk up the long staircase. It was a path I had taken hundreds of times before, maybe even thousands. It was the staircase of the middle school I used to go to. I had just graduated a few weeks ago, and I already missed it. The smiling faces of the teachers were the one thing I definitely missed most.  We keep our teachers for all three years at this school. They grow and learn with us, and we get to know them very well.

 

  There was once particular teacher who I was really longing to see again; Ms. Caisse. She was our algebra teacher. She was very young, maybe 25. She always pushed us to our limits, and I enjoyed every second of it. I clutched a white envelope with her name written on it in red sharpie. I had written her a special letter to let her know how much I appreciated her and how much I would miss her.

 

  I took the last few steps on the last flight of stairs, and pushed open the double doors. Her classroom was the last one on the right. I walked over and gently knocked on the door. She was standing right by the door, as if she were waiting for me.

 

 “Ryley!” she said, giving me a hug. I was all smiles.

“Come on in!”

 I stepped into the room.

“So, how has your summer been?”

I laughed.

“Boring. My siblings are still in school, so I don’t really do anything.”

She nodded.

“Umm, I wrote this letter for you.” She gave me another hug, and immediately started to open the envelope.

 

  I waited patiently as she read the letter, rocking back and forth on my heels. In the middle of the letter, her eyes started to water. She quickly finished the letter and gave me yet another hug.

 “Thank you so much. I will keep this forever.” I looked at my shoes. I hated to see people start to cry because it made me cry. She headed over to the tissue box, and dabbed at her eyes. I stayed where I was, trying to avoid eye contact. She came back over after blowing her nose. I made the mistake of looking at her. My eyes started welling up. ‘Oh, how embarrassing. Crying in school, come on Ry!’

 

   She held out her hand and lifted up my chin. She looked into my eyes, and I looked into hers.

 “No tears,” she whispered, running her thumb down my cheek.

I gave her a hug and whispered, “Thank you.”

My voice cracked with tears, and I said goodbye before I really started crying. I ran down the hallway and halfway down the stairs. I sat on one of the window sills that looked out over a garden. I let myself cry. I cried until there was nothing left. I wiped my face, and continued downstairs. When I reached the bottom, I turned around to the empty staircase.

 

“Thank you.”

Author's Note

A real story about an experience I had a few days ago. ;)

Reviews

[torments_scribe]

What a great way to say thank you!! I sometimes think people don't realize what an impact a teacher can really have in their life, and I applaud you for letting someone special know just how much you appreciated them. I'm sure you made her day, if not her year, and your thoughtful gesture will no doubt inspire her to reach out to more and more young people. Thanks so much for sharing such a sweet story :)


btw...I hate seeing other people cry cause it makes me want to cry too ;)

[Coyote Poetry]

A very nice story. Teacher need to be thanks. I went back and thank my teachers and my Principle. Wasn't for them I would of end up in prison and in a lot of trouble. Thank you for sharing this amazing story.
Coyote

[Sarah Hobbit]

That is very sweet, i liked it alot.
Well done.
Sarah :-)

[Cal]

Oh gosh I'm so close to crying right now! Well, we accomplished great things this year, like making Mr Whayland dance. It was terrible but great at the same time...

[Lemontine]

Miss. caisse was defitally a great teacher! I'll miss her so much!! You almost made me cry!!

[SamBug]

Very emotional. and very good.

[Richielee]

oh wow....my god....so, so brilliant and it actuallly happened! A very emotioal and uplifting write ,congrats and now youay take a bow, your best i've rest so far

[Dark Angel ~]

Gosh, I know the feeling... teachers become such a big part of our lives... then you have to leave them... It's hard sometimes... :(

[TJ]

Our teachers play such an important role in our live but unfortuneatly it's also vet temporary. Nothing is more sad than becoming so close with people then moving on to the next step and having to tell them
Goodbye

[SoulCrusader (Yas)]

Love it, So sweet. What an awesome teacher she looks like, and you too:)

Somehow I think my old teacher Dr Pickles wouldn't have cried lol

Yas