Pamela, a primary school teacher, was transferred to a different school and immediately appointed as a class teacher of a standard five class.
On her first day in her class, she noticed that a boy named Tom was different from the rest of the pupils because he was always lonely, out of place, dirty and never used to do homework. Pamela also realized that most pupils in the class had a negative attitude towards him.
Pamela decided to investigate and find out the problem. She decided to review the file containjng the records for Tom. She was very surprised by what she found out.
Tom's standard one teacher wrote and said "Tom is a good pupil with a ready laugh. He does his homework neatly and has many friends".
The standard two teacher wrote, "Tom is a good pupil with a ready laugh. He does his homework neatly but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle"
The standard three teacher wrote, "his mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best but his father doesn't show much interest".
The standard four teacher wrote, "Tom is withdrawn.He doesn't do his homework and has very few friends".
By now teacher Pamela had known where the problem was, and she was very ashamed of herself. And from that day onwards she decided to pay much attention on Tom and to assist him as much as possible.
Towards the end of the year, the pupils in the class decided to bring presents to teacher Pamela. All the pupils in the class brought expensive presents which were wrapped in coloured paper except Tom. His present was wrapped clumsily in old pieces of newspaper. The rest of the pupils laughed at him when they saw what he brought.
Pamela felt great pain as she opened the present that Tom had brought.Inside, she found an old bottle of perfume which was a quarter full and an old bracelet which had several beads missing. To stiffle the laughter from the pupils, teacher Pamela exclaimed "this bracelet is very beautiful" and wore it. She also took the bottle of perfume, tapped it on her wrist and put it on.
In the evening, when the rest of the pupils were going home, Tom deliberately remained behind, and when he was sure that all the pupils had left, he went to see teacher Pamela. He entered her office, and summoning enough courage he said to her, "teacher, today you smelled the way my mum used to".When Tom left, Pamela locked herself in the office and cried for more than an hour.
The following year, Tom wrote a letter to teacher Pamela. He told her that she was the best teacher that he ever had in his life.
Six years later, he wrote another letter, he told her that he had finished high school and he was the best in his class. He added that "she was still the best teacher he ever had in his life".
Eight years later, he wrote another letter. He told her that he had completed his bachelor's degree in medicine was now a doctor. He added that she was still "the best teacher he ever had in his life".
The following year, he wrote another letter. He told her that he had found a girl and was going to get married. He explained that his father had died one year earlier, and was wondering whether Pamela would accept to attend the wedding and sit in the place reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course Pamela accepted and during the wedding, she was putting on the same bracelet with several beads missing and she was also putting on the same perfume that Tom remembered his mother was putting on the day she died.
This teaches as that when you are kind to others no matter how small it may be, its effect may last forever in the person it was shown to........