6th grade.

Her name was Ms. Troupes.

When she got married she changed that. I was disappointed, not because she got married- but because I had grown to know her as Ms T. 

I kept calling her that.  To her grace- she never gave me a hard time for forgetting to call her Mrs. Sullivan. Anyway, I digress. 

She told me that I was destined to be a teacher. 

– I nearly exploded. 

I asked her ( over and over and over and over and…) Are you sure?… Why?

She never answered . An entire life happened after that. 

50 years later, I’m a teacher

by profession

like her,

finally.