Letter #27 - Sergio

Sergio was my grade four teacher.  I do not remember the circumstances that made me want so desperately to be in his class, but I do remember the first day of school that year, going up to him so anxiously to see if I was in his class or not.  I was elated when I found out my name was on his roster!  Sergio was the teacher no one ever wanted to disappoint.  One time we had a substitute, who we treated pretty poorly... and when Sergio returned he talked to us so quietly, and looked so sad... we were devastated.  He didn't need to yell, he didn't need to threaten us with punishments, we just fessed up and apologised and truly felt awful.  He was also the teacher who played guitar and would teach us these great songs like "In the Jungle" and "Lean On Me"

Grade four was the year my family discovered we would be moving to the Netherlands.  During the spring, my parents left for two weeks for a go-see trip, and left me in Sergio's care the morning of their flight, crying my eyes out in the hallway.  He sat out in the hall with me for a few minutes until I could get myself together, then gave me some individual things to work on so I would have some time to settle down before being expected to interact with the rest of my classmates.

As I mentioned when I began this blog, I come from a family of writers.  When I was young my mum really encouraged me to write letters, especially when we moved to Rotterdam.  I wrote to Sergio.  He wrote back.  We're still friends.  In fact, Sergio & his wife attended my wedding last year (I was ecstatic).

Writing this letter to Sergio was a chance for me to express some thanks to him for being such an important part of my life.  I also used it as a chance to send him a photo I had promised him months ago and haven't gotten around to sending yet.  Writing to Sergio always brings on feelings of nostalgia and inspiration for me.  When I thought I wanted to teach school, I knew I wanted to be like him in my teaching style.  Being around Sergio makes me want to help and inspire others, which I am trying more and more to act on.

Letter #5 - Kent

I'm still not quite caught up, but tonight I made time for another letter.  Tonight I wrote to my friend Kent, another BTS buddy.  Kent and I are only about 6 months apart in age and he is devastatingly handsome.  Tall, blonde, gorgeous.  He is also an incredibly talented, competent, smart and confident guy.  For any number of these reasons, I spent the greater part of the week in Scottsdale kind of avoiding him.  Not entirely on purpose, but there was something about him that both intrigued me and intimidated me (not in the romantic sense, despite his looks... Austin and I were 2 years strong at that point!)  The second to last day of the seminar, he and I ended up being partners for one of the exercises.  I have no idea what the exercise was, I can't remember a single word we actually exchanged, but I remember from that point on I couldn't figure out why I had spent most of the week not talking to him.  We shared several conversations and one rockin' dance (the memory of which is the only reason I can stand the song sexy back lol) between that exercise and the closing of the program, and I have tried hard to keep tabs on him ever since.  He has built several extremely successful careers for himself (while simultaneously working on his degree) and is not hard to follow, which sometimes makes me wonder if I had even half the impact on him as he had on me.  Sometimes when I reach out to him, I wonder if I'm just a slightly more familiar face in the crowd, or if he really remembers who I am.  Some friends are like that.

Writing my letter tonight to Kent took me back to the fun of those last few days in Scottsdale, where everyone felt like family and was sad to think of the week coming to an end.  He also is a person who keeps me inspired (and sometime jealous, I'm not gonna lie!) to be all I can be.  After all, he's 6 months younger than me and has achieved so much in his life already... there's no reason I can't do the same if I put the time and energy into it!  I doubt I'll hear back from him (though he may surprise me with a hi on facebook or something) but I hope I do.  If not though, I still hope he keeps on achieving, and keeps sharing it with the world, coz I'll continue to follow his endeavours, and I'll continue to be inspired (and a little jealous) as he continues to soar.

Letter #4 - Stephanie

Back in 2007 I was given an opportunity that I did not expect to be as influential in my life as it turned out to be.  I attended Jack Canfield's 2007 Breakthrough to Success seminar in Scottsdale, AZ.  I was supposed to go to "get a feel for the material" and ended up having an incredible experience.  Part of that experience included meeting Stephanie.

Today's letter went to Stephanie.  Steph is an amazingly strong and beautiful woman who I have come to admire very much.  She attended BTS with her incredible husband, and the two of them sort of adopted me for the week, which was awesome.  The three of us shared many meals, laughs, hugs, and even a few tears... and Stephanie and I share many evenings poolside just talking about life.  They live in another state and so I haven't been able to see them in person since that week, but I keep them both very close in my heart.  I was so excited writing my letter to her because even with the things in my life that aren't awesome right now (unemployment topping that list), I was able to share with her some of the successes I've had in achieving some of my goals that I set that week.  Talking with Steph always forces me to focus on the positives in my life, and on the possibles.  When I start doubting myself or my goals, she is one of the first to challenge me to focus on what IS attainable.

I'm so glad I decided to write her tonight, I had considered moving it to my list for tomorrow, but I was feeling frustrated with myself for having accomplished mostly nothing today (did cross one item off my to do list, but then I blew off the rest of the day...) writing this letter allowed me to recognise some of my successes, and allowed me to acknowledge the fact that sometimes, it's ok to reward myself for doing good... and tonight was a reward.  Tomorrow I will get up and face my to do list, my unemployment, my list of things I've been putting off for a week, my reading and prework for my next masters' class, etc... but tonight, I can focus on me, on the good things I've done, and on people like Stephanie who continue to be an inspiration to me!!