The Borrowed Bell

From one teacher to another...

My grandmother, Adeline was a teacher in the 1940s. She taught me self discipline and that there is no substitute for hard work. She passed away some years ago. Near the end, my family decided to keep her in her own home and provided a nursing aid. Her six children and their children spent many hours at her bedside and in her home. During those final weeks, we found it necessary to provide her with a bell she could ring if she needed anything. However, no one had a bell. So perhaps against our better judgement, we "borrowed" one from the church just across the street. My grandmother was a devote catholic and possibly one the holiest people I will ever know. The irony is was not lost on us. Although she never learned of my desire to teach, as that came to me years after her passing, I like to imagine she rang the bell for me and I answered the call to teaching.