Jay

Today, all I know is I'm grateful for this:

To A F
Here I stand thanking this ma'am
Helping to show me who I am
Giving me a way to speak my mind
Writing about all the bad times
Critical of the errors that she would see
However, something she saw in me
Always putting up with my antics
Final paper, Time to panic
Opening my mind to a different side
Saying true feelings, one shouldn't hide
Always optimistic, and always fair
Showing the student that she cares
Providing the skills, letting me reach
A wonderful person, a wonderful teach
Thank you for presenting this world to me
All of my gratitude, I give Dr. Fee --Jay Blann

The kid who wrote this is an Iraq war veteran who lost his best friend over there. He came home from the war and got heavily into some nasty stuff. He took English 101 from me about 18 months ago. Despite being on the weed, he showed some talent and interest...and so I encouraged him to write about his experiences. Now he's clean and sober, working full time, and writing. What a blessing this little poem was...I had the crappiest day yesterday, but came home to find this on Facebook. Wow.

I'm really grateful for this.