A WRITER’S VALENTINE: TO SIRS, WITH LOVE

By Maria C. Ferrer

February is famous for Valentine’s Day, for lovers, for showing some love.

One group who gets too little love are teachers. And yet, teachers are the torch bearers, the surrogates. They shine the light on the wonders of the world, of the universe; they teach us to explore, to learn, to create.

My earliest memory of creating stories is from third grade. My teacher, Mr. Myers, taught us to read and to spell, but best of all he taught us – me!—to write. Every Friday, Mr. Myers would give us ten words. Our homework was to find the definition of the words and then to write a story using all the words.

I remember my first story about a little mouse that lived in a house and loved the swings in the playground. I wish my mother would have keep my stories, but her idea of cleaning was to throw everything out; with three kids in the house, no one can blame her. (All right, maybe a little.)

Another teacher who encouraged my writing was Mr. Glynnis from High School Journalism. He made us read the paper each week and had us breakdown the stories. Who, what, where, when and why -- the five key points of any article. Mr. Glynnis always said that if you got all that into your writing, you had done your job.

I always populate my stories with the five W’s. I know that if I have answered all of them, I have done my job as a writer.

I had other teachers throughout the years who also encouraged my writing, my love for photography, my love for adventure. I thank them all for sharing their enthusiasm with me, for showing me the pleasures of the written word, and for caring enough to nurture my dreams.

Thank you, Mr. Myers. Thank you, Mr. Glynnis.

I would like to end this blog with a Thank You to a Teacher I never met, but who is an inspiration to all -- Newton teacher, Victoria Soto. She nurtured her classroom kids and taught them the beautiful things in life. And one dark day this past December, she taught them courage and bravery. Victoria Soto hid her kids from a crazed gunman, and died protecting them. That is the ultimate price of love. Because of Victoria’s sacrifice, 15 kids live, 15 families had a Christmas. I am in awe of this wonderful teacher. I hope no other teacher ever has to pay so high a price again.

Thank you, Victoria. Thank you, to all our Teachers.

Will you be my Valentine?♥