Mark Millican: The Christmas gifts of Teddy Stoddard

Published 8:00 am Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Uncharacteristic of the way we normally perceive schoolteachers, Teddy Stoddard’s teacher told a lie on the first day of school. Standing before her fifth-grade class, Mrs. Thompson told her pupils she loved them all the same. That was a falsehood.

You see, in the front row slumped in his desk, there was Teddy. Mrs. Thompson had noticed the year before Teddy didn’t interact well with the other kids on the playground. His clothes were never ironed, and overall he was unkempt with uncombed hair, and smelled like he had a fear of bathtubs. Also, Teddy could be unpleasant to be around at times.

To show Teddy who was in charge, Mrs. Thompson took pleasure in grading his papers with a big red pen, making large X’s and putting a fat F at the top of the work he handed in.

Came the time, though, when Mrs. Thompson was required to review his past records (the same as with the other students), and she began to learn more about Teddy. But first, she had placed Teddy’s records on the bottom, saving what she felt was the worst for last. When she finally reached his papers, she was in for a shock.

Teddy’s first grade teacher recorded, “Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners. He’s a joy to be around.”

His second-grade teacher recalled, “Teddy is an excellent student and well-liked by his classmates. But he’s troubled because his mother has a terminal illness, and life at home must be a struggle.”

Then his third-grade teacher wrote, “His mother’s death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn’t show much interest. His home life will soon affect him if steps aren’t taken.”

And then there was his fourth-grade teacher: “Teddy is withdrawn and doesn’t show much interest in school. He doesn’t have many friends and sometimes he even sleeps in class.”

Mrs. Thompson felt her face redden with shame as she discovered Teddy’s world away from school. It was almost Christmas, the most joyful time of the year, and yet she was troubled this Noel season and tossed and turned at night, thinking of Teddy and the way she had treated him.

Her personal crisis regarding Teddy got even worse when all her students brought her Christmas presents just before the holiday break from school. Nearly all were adorned in colorful paper with Christmas themes and neatly wrapped and topped with a bow or perhaps red or green ribbons.

But that sure didn’t describe Teddy’s gift — his present was wrapped haphazardly, one might say, in thick brown paper he had cut out of a grocery bag. Somewhat nervously and even slightly trepidant, Mrs. Thompson slowly began to unwrap the present upon which Teddy had clumsily written her name.

The unraveling revealed a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing and a bottle of perfume that was only one-fourth full. The other students began to laugh at his gift.

Seizing the moment, however, Mrs. Thompson stifled the laughter immediately when she “oohed” and “aahed” over how pretty the bracelet looked when she latched it on, and dabbed some of the perfume on her wrist and closed her eyes in pleasure as she savored the aroma.

Teddy Stoddard usually was happy to be the first to get off the school grounds after class was dismissed for the day, but on this afternoon he stayed just long enough to say “Mrs. Thompson, today you smell just like my mom used to.”

After all the children left, sitting by herself in the classroom devoid of their increasing excitement as Christmas approached, she cried for more than an hour.

Also on this day, Mrs. Thompson stopped teaching the three Rs and focused on the fact she was responsible for mentoring each one of her students as best she could. Especially Teddy. She noticed that he seemed to come alive after that day at school when she opened his gift to her. She focused on Teddy and encouraged him, and he responded the more. Miraculously, Teddy became one of the smartest students in class by the end of the school year.

One might say Mrs. Thompson’s initial fib got turned inside out, for Teddy had become one of the teacher’s pets. A year passed after he was promoted to sixth grade.

Then one day she found a note under her classroom door. It was from Teddy, and his vastly-improved writing proclaimed Mrs. Thompson was the best teacher he ever had.

Then half a dozen years went by, and another surprise note arrived from Teddy. He had finished third in his graduating class at high school, and he still declared her “best teacher ever” in his life. Four more years passed, and Teddy reported in another note that although there had been some adversity to slog through, he was now a college graduate and had earned the highest of honors.

Again, Mrs. Thompson was “still the very best and favorite teacher” he’d ever had.

Four more years passed and then a letter arrived. This time Teddy explained that after attaining his bachelor’s degree he had decided to pursue his education even further. The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, M.D.

And yet the story of Teddy and Mrs. Thompson doesn’t end there, for one last letter came to her mailbox. Teddy announced he had met a special girl and they would be married in the spring. Since his father had passed away a couple of years earlier, he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might sit in the place at the wedding that would have been reserved for his mother had she lived.

Of course, Mrs. Thompson said she would. We might guess about what one part of her wardrobe that day would have been. Yes, she wore the rhinestone bracelet with the missing stones, and also made sure she liberally dabbed on the perfume she had kept all those years in the used vial. It was the same perfume Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together.

After the wedding, they hugged and Dr. Teddy Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson’s ear, “Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference.”

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back, “Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn’t know how to teach until I met you.”

P.S. — Teddy Stoddard, sometimes called Stallard, and Mrs. Thompson are fictional characters, created by Elizabeth Silance Ballard in 1974 for Home Life magazine, according to the ripplekindness.org website. This slightly-embellished column should be credited to her, and the website for publishing it again.

While often perceived as a wisdom parable for teachers, is Teddy’s story still not instructional to the rest of us as readers?

After all, it’s not just teachers who have influence and impact over young lives, but all of us as adults. The prophet Isaiah wrote that “a little child shall lead them.” Oftentimes, even children — like Teddy — can influence those of us in the worldly-wise realm of adulthood. So let’s pay attention this Christmas … there may be a Teddy out there in the wings ready to be encouraged — and to show us the way.