"Sharing a cup of tea with an interesting stranger is one of life's great pleasures!" ~ General Iroh
Let me start off by saying I am glad that this story ended up at number ten. Ten is a lucky number for me and it seems fitting that this story falls into it. This isn't one of my normal bash the moron story either. This is a good, heartfelt story.
She was my first sale of the day. It was late in the day and I was glad that she had bought from me. I was beginning to feel like the day was going to be a failure. But as luck would have it Merci walked in. Yes I know I put a name, well it is only her first name and she deserves it.
Anyway the good part of the story comes after the sale. She stayed for an hour after the sale had been completed and we talked. Merci is 57 years old, so get that thought out of your mind right now. Where was I? Oh right, we talked for an hour and she was really inspiring. She is a 57 year old women who raised three girls while working two jobs, and she just completed her APRN, which means she has a masters degree, she tutors at the hospital she works at her spare time, and she lost 26lbs so far on her new weight loss system.
And I found out all of this as she spent an hour telling me I could do anything. Lose weight, go back to school, whatever. That's right, she was encouraging me, a complete stranger, to better my self. How awesome is that? By the way I had actually started exercising, as I right this it is day 9 of exercising, not sure of weight loss yet but not focusing on that. Any who, as we talked I told her how great it was that she was a nurse, and that must be why I thought she awesome as two of my closest friends are in the medical field. I apparently gave a sad look as I said that cause she asked my what was wrong.
I should point out that the past couple weeks I have been doing some soul searching and been having some tough time mentally and spiritually. I am working through it, with help as no one can walk this world alone and succeed properly. But one of the things I discovered was my three closest friends, who where in no order a Geneticist, Hemo-dialisis technician working to be a full nurse, and a message therapist working to be a chiropractor, all in life changing fields and I had flunked out of college and was now an assistant manager/sales man for the store I'm at. Now don't get me wrong, I love my job, money isn't horrible and the bonus perks are great. But it doesn't fulfill me. So I told her this.
She asked me what I wanted to do. Honestly I would love to teach High School History. And I told her a story of my friend James. He is a teacher and he games with me and my friends. After games we usually go to Denny's or some other dinner to socialize, unwind and eat. I asked James how he was and he went on to complain about a coworker that had been taking joy at punishing her students. I turned to James and said, "What?? I thought a teacher's job was to teach?" He turned to me and said thank you and that I understood what it meant to teach students. When I finished tell Merci that she told me that James must be a good teacher and had to be a good friend as he knew me, I left out that my taste in friends took time to include good people like James.
Anyway I went on to tell her I understood that teaching was glamorous, or a ticket to quick cash, and that they have to put up with a lot but I still wanted to do that. She told me that she thought I would be a great teacher, one who would inspire kids and help them learn, not just make the grade. She told me that I shouldn't start at one of the big schools, but go to the local community college or online classes until I was ready to go to one of the major schools for the advanced degrees.
She then told me to take down her number. Told me to call her if I ever need help with home work or as a reference. She started talking like I was already enrolled and it felt good. When she left I told James what she had said about him and while I was doing that I began looking up online classes. If nothing else, I met a real interesting and inspiring person. But I am at a turning point in my life. And I can't wait to see how this story turns out. For the first time ever I can see a happy ending, twists turns, pain, and sorrow but happy in the end.
Thanks for reading. I am glad to have the followers I do and the people in my life who have been so wonderful, past and present.
