To my father's music teacher,

For year's now, I've pondered what I would possibly say to you if I ever got the chance to meet you. There aren't enough words to describe the type of impact you have had on not only my father's life, but mine as well. He told me all about you, you know.

You would make him lunch because he didn't have any to bring to school from home. And when you learned he had to walk a couple miles to get to school, you went out of your way to take him home.

You never went easy on him. Oh, no, never - and yes, he remembers that, and raised me that way as well. He learned a love of music thanks to you, and that love of music is essential to my being.

I'm in my final years of my degree in music education, and I like to think you planted that seed in my dad that eventually grew into the path I ended up traveling. What an inspiration you have been to me - the amount of compassion you have shown to your students lives past you.

Even in the turmoil that America is today, I know that teachers are what will keep our young children safe. I tirelessly pursue this career with you in mind. Maybe, just maybe, I'll get to be just like you for my students one day. I can't thank you enough for being there for my dad all those years ago.