This was great for their children but hard on their pocketbook.Greg showed signs of being a gifted child and could read at the age of three.Rhonda and Gil talked at length and decided to send him to a private preschool for two days a week.The school was expensive,but it offered great teachers with small classrooms and produced good results.Knowing they would have difficulty paying the tuition alone,they had requested a partial scholarship.The director assured them this was a common practice and that they had several alumni who helped out from time to time.No one had dreamed someone would pay the whole amount of Greg’s tuition.
Rhonda,still holding the note from the school in her hand,said,“I just wish I knew who was so generous.”
“Rhonda,I think that,whoever the benefactor is,it must be important to them to keep their identity private.”Giving her a hug,I continued,“Count your blessings.And someday you can do the same for someone else.”
“Mom,you’re such a pollyanna!But I sure would like to know.That’s a lot of money.I wrote a thank-you note and asked Mrs.Perkins to see that the donor receives it.”
Several months later,near the end of the school year,Rhonda was dropping Rebekah off at my house to spend a couple of hours while she ran some quick errands.We said our good-byes as Rhonda hunted through her purse for her misplaced keys.
“Shoot,I forgot to sign and return this,”she said,retrieving an envelope.Greg had brought home a permission slip to attend a field trip.When she opened the envelope,a small piece of pink paper fell to the floor.
“What’s this?”I asked,picking up the paper and handing it to Rhonda.
Rhonda scanned the paper.“Mom,look,”she said as tears rolled down her face.“It was Christie,Christie Leeks.Someone in the Saint Francis office must have put this receipt in Greg’s envelope by mistake.”Christie was making monthly payments of120 for Greg’s tuition.
Christie Leeks was a young girl who had been in Rhonda’s first dance class at the high school where she had taught five years earlier.Christie had lived in the Methodist Home as a ward of the state.Rhonda and Gil had taken Christie and another student who lived at the foster home under their wings.They invited them to their home for Sunday dinners,baked them birthday cakes,counseled and loved them.After two years,Rhonda and Gil moved to another city and new jobs.They lost contact with the other student,who had moved out of the country,but stayed in touch with Christie over the years.Rhonda and Gil even traveled back to attend Christie’s high school graduation and then helped her move into a college dorm.
“How can she pay for this?”Rhonda asked.“This has to be a hardship on her;I know she is only making student wages.We can’t accept this.I have to call her and tell her to stop.”
“Rhonda,it’s obviously important to Christie for you not to know.You can’t tell her you found out her secret.”
A few months later,during Greg’s summer vacation from school,Christie stopped by to visit and celebrate a belated birthday.That night,Rhonda and Christie sat up talking,while the rest of the household slept.Christie,about to graduate from college with honors,had met a special young man.
“I am so proud of you,Christie,”Rhonda said.“You have grown into a special young woman.I always knew you would,from the first day I saw you in class.”
“Mrs.Davidson,I want to show you something,”Christie said as she went to her overnight bag and retrieved her Bible.Opening it,she removed the thank-you note Rhonda and Gil had written to the anonymous contributor.“Would you read this,Mrs.Davidson?”
As Rhonda read the note aloud,she had to swallow the lump in her throat.Rhonda read the last sentence...
We only hope that one day we can give to a child as you have so generously given to our child.
“Don’t you know,Mrs.Davidson?I am that child.You and Mr.Davidson taught me and gave me so much.This was a small way I could say‘Thank you.’”
I often reflect on this rewarding experience in my daughter’s life and on Christie’s generosity.I think of all the other students whose lives have been positively impacted by Rhonda and Gil,in ways these two young teachers will never know.With Christie,they were fortunate.Not only did they get to see the positive outcome of the life they touched,but they also saw their gift of compassion returned to them.
