Monday, April 22, 2024
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As my sixth-grade teacher, Mrs. Matz was a highlight of my middle school years. With her warmth and kindred sense of humor, I bonded instantly with her from the first day we met on August 19, 1996. I met another lady that day with whom I would share a lifelong friendship, my aide Janet Martin. The three of us shared a knack for sarcasm that kept us unable to make eye contact with one anotI got to know Richard during our sixth-grade Christmas party and immediately bonded with him in much the same way as I had his wife. The year after I was in Mrs. Matz's class, I sang Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" for the school talent show. Mrs. Matz shed tears at that performance and when I was invited back to sing it for the PTA meeting a few weeks later, she and Richard came to support me. The next day, I entered school to be greeted by Mrs. Matz, who presented me with a sweatshirt donning the California Raisins with the title of the song written in big red letters. I still have the shirt, which I treasure.
Also, knowing that I was a big Lucille Ball fan, Mrs. Matz gifted me with several Lucy books the year I was in her class. For Christmas that year, undoubtedly in tribute to our shared sense of humor, she gave me a calendar featuring The Far Side comics by satirist Gary Larson. Her kindness to me was overwhelming and never forgotten.
When the summer of 1997 arrived and my time with Mrs. Matz was over, Janet Martin, who remained my aide for the next two school years, would escort me on the adventure of a lifetime, a Tina Turner concert. We had an extra ticket and desperately wanted Mrs. Matz to go with us. Though she declined, I can't help but think how much more magical that evening might have been with Mrs. Matz along. Of all the teachers I ever had, a rare few have become lifelong friends who have blessed my life. Mrs. Mildred Matz forever belongs in that category.
her at school assemblies. At any rate, my relationship with Mrs. Matz has become one of the most treasured of my life.
