Reflection (The Teddy Stallard Story)

Teddy was the kind of kid who strained the mercy of any teacher. His messiness and
unpleasantness quickly worked their dark magic on Miss Thompson, who just didn't like the little
brat. In time she enjoyed giving Teddy bad grades on his consistently poor homework.
But when Miss Thompson checked Teddy's permanent records, she discovered he had
been a fine student until his mother died of a terminal illness a couple of years earlier. Miss
Thompson's shame over her misjudgment of Teddy grew when, at Christmastime, the hurting
boy gave her some perfume that had belonged to his mother. When Miss Thompson put it on,
Teddy told her that she smelled just like his mother used to. At that moment the teacher's heart
was forever changed toward Teddy. Miss Thompson invested countless hours in Teddy, helping
him improve in his schoolwork and clean up his personal life. Her devotion paid off as Teddy
began to turn his life around.
Years later Miss Thompson received rich rewards for her effort, rewards that came in the
form of letters from Teddy. One letter arrived when Teddy graduated from high school near the
top of his class. One came when he graduated with honors from college. The last letter arrived
when he finished medical school and was about to get married. This note was signed, "Theodore
F. Stallard, M.D." In all his notes, Teddy credited Miss Thompson with changing his life by
believing in him.
What a touching story! I first heard it from a guest preacher at my church. Not only was I
moved, but also I resolved once again to love the unlovely people in my life, no matter how
much they bugged me. The story of Teddy and Miss Thompson haunted me for days, so I
decided to do a little research on the Internet. Maybe there was even more to the story than I
knew.

Submitted by:
Pavankumar M. Gogna