Your article about Jean Flynn, the teacher at St. Francis Xavier Catholic School in Wilmette who recently died of cancer, was particularly poignant to me. My mom died from cancer in September 2001, after battling the disease for only a few months. My mom was also a teacher and your article brought back to me the remembrance of the same feelings described by Ms. Flynn’s students (anger, sadness and heartache) that I and my family felt after her death.
Most of all, your article reminded me of the larger role that my mom played in the lives of so many people. Her funeral was filled with people I had not met before that day or had not seen in many years. Many of them were teachers and former students of hers. The impact of her life on theirs was immediately clearer to me after hearing these people describe her in ways I had never considered.
My mom taught me and my brother and sister a lot without the intention of making it a formal lesson. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that teachers are very special people with unique gifts. Many of them have a remarkable ability to bring out the best in their students and peers.
Thank you for an article that highlighted this fact and reminded me of a lesson not remembered often enough.
