Person and the Impact He or She

¶ … person and the impact he or she had on you.

"I wish I had a funeral like that." The words, uttered by the school principal to other teachers as I walked past this little group, sounded strange. The funeral ceremonies for my former gym teacher Mr. Smith had just ended and mourners were walking away to their parked cars. More than 500 people attended the funeral- to which the long lines of cars and the resulting cross-traffic jams attested.

Mr. Smith was my gym teacher; he also organized camping trips for interested students. Once a marine, Mr. Smith imparted to us the collective wisdom from his own training and experience -- rigging tents, building a campfire and cooking on it, recognizing poison plants -- myriad issues that point towards self-reliance. These camping trips were truly enjoyable experiences.

Two experiences with Mr. Smith will always remain etched in my memory: I had had a bout with pneumonia. Though I recovered, I tended to suffer from the colds (not serious) several times a year. On one camping trip I forgot to carry my medication. As the night grew colder, I started wheezing and coughing. Mr. Smith was immediately at my side. He drove one hundred miles each way looking for an all-night pharmacy until he found my medicine. I told him that I could have done without the medication. He replied that I did not have to suffer needlessly if he could help it.

A few years later, on another camping trip, I was entrusted with taking care of the younger boys. We were traveling by train to a hill station. The wait for the connecting train would take most of the night. While the other campers were in their sleeping bags in the station rest area, Mr. Smith and I talked. He spoke about his life as a marine, his life growing up. He spoke about his family and asked me about mine. He also began talking about smoking, alcohol and drugs. He told me of his one and only encounter with marijuana -- how it had scared him. He ended this anecdote with a very simple and direct statement: "Never do drugs."

Since then, I have been offered drugs at parties and get-togethers. And very easily I "just said NO." Every time someone offered me drugs, I saw Mr. Smith and his "Never do drugs" admonition. Politicians, Hollywood and television stars have also spoken against the use of drugs; then why did I only take Mr. Smith's advice to heart. The answer occurred to me. Mr. Smith cared. Of this I have first-hand experience. He backed up advice with genuine personal interest and selflessness.

I was not the only person that Mr. Smith touched. His funeral was an opportunity to meet several friends and colleagues who traveled several hundred miles to be at his funeral. They all echoed the same sentiments. Mr. Smith cared. They needed to be at his funeral to bid a fond farewell, say a final thank you, and celebrate his lasting legacy of giving.