Recently I decided to try and get in touch with my 7th grade English teacher, Helen Fogel-Egan. She was the one who saw something in me that I didn’t know existed. She was the one who showed me that I had been given the gift of being able to put pen to paper and write.

I never forgot Helen Fogel-Egan, and thought of her often throughout the 41 years that have passed since she was my teacher. A few weeks ago I decided it was high time to say Thank You .

The first thing I did was to try and find her on social media. When that failed to bring any results, I posted on Facebook and asked if anyone I went to middle school with knew how to contact her. As it happens, my 7th grade shop teacher, Dean Vandecarr must have seen my post, because three weeks ago, he sent me a message on Facebook.

Mr. Vandecarr had Googled Helen Fogel-Egan and found an address for her in Sedona Arizona which he passed along to me. That night I sat down , wrote her a letter , and mailed it the very next day. Then I waited. After all 41 years have passed since she was my teacher. She had a lot of students since then, and I knew there was a chance she might not remember me. And who knew if the address I had for her was current?

Yesterday my husband suggested we go and check our post office box. Boy am I glad we did! I waited in the car, and when he came out of the post office my husband handed me the mail. I started going through it when I came to an envelope addressed to me. I looked at the return address and saw it was from Mrs. Fogel-Egan! She has since moved from Arizona to another state, but somehow my letter managed to reach her. I stared at the envelope until we got home, afraid to open it only to find out she didn’t remember me.

To my surprise, and utter delight, the opposite was true. Not only did she remember me, but was happy to hear from me as well! As I read her letter I was filled with emotion, and tears sprang to my eyes. But they were tears of happiness. I had found Mrs. Fogel-Egan , which I never thought would happen. That she took the time to sit down and write back to me means so much. The things she said in her letter filled me with such joy. I will treasure her letter forever. I’m so glad I took a chance and reached out to her.

Thank a teacher. I’m sure glad I did!