Mr. Burnham

Consider yourself lucky if you’re one of those people fortunate enough to have had a special teacher in your life. Consider yourself even luckier if there was a special teacher in your kid’s life. It’s rare that someone else considers your kids to be as special as you do. But Bill Burnham did.

Helaina had Mr. Burnham for an English teacher in Middle School. Bill was a great teacher. But what made him great wasn’t how he taught English. (Well, maybe it was, but I can’t say. I never sat in on a class.) What made Bill great to me was that he saw something special in my daughter, not in what she may become, but in who she already was. To Mr. Burnham, Helaina was more than a face in the crowd. And he made her feel special, and not just in school. Bill invited her over to his house to help with sugaring one winter, a memory we both share. He taught her about bee keeping. He took time for her.

Over the years when we were lucky enough to bump into Bill, he always made it seem like it was his pleasure, not just ours. He would always greet Helaina with a smile. He would take the time to catch up with her and was genuinely happy to hear she was doing well. Bill looked at her with what I felt was pride and it made me feel proud too. He cared.

We didn’t see Bill at the Fair last year, and now I suppose, it may have been because he was ill. I wish I knew then, though I don’t know what I would have done. I would like to think that I could have let him know how much we appreciated him and how special we thought he is, and how the pleasure really had been all ours.