This morning I arose, made coffee, fed my cat, and sat down. There was a text from a former colleague on my phone, sent the previous night. I responded, and we texted back and forth.

She retired a few years after I did, and was getting in touch to get my email so a former student could send me something. She wouldn’t tell me who it was, or what, so I know it’s nice.

She asked me how I was doing, and we chatted about family and sent each other photos (her kid is a senior in college! I have a grandchild!). She asked me if I had written any new books, and I realized I had written and published two since I retired. I sent her the Amazon author link, then nervously looked at the reviews of one of them because it was sort of set in a place like our old workplace. 

That’s all that happened. But it was a lot.

You see, I retired from there almost ten years ago. The downside of leaving a job is people don’t want to talk to you any more. My old colleague and I had been close. We were working toward the same things. It was, in the end, just a job, and I was gone. But we had talked every day when I was there, and it is so strange to have that kind of thing end.

Yeah, I know, it’s just a job, but it was a big part of my life. You see, I was a teacher, and teaching is intense.

It’s all too often a thankless job. I have had some students tell me that I changed their lives, but generally (as I used to tell the teachers I supervised) they will give all the credit to a teacher they have later on, who re-teaches them something you taught them first, in a way that makes the lightbulb go off.

So I can’t wait to see what my student is sending me. 

And then when I went to my Amazon author page, which I rarely visit (I sell a handful of copies a month, still, but I don’t have the patience for self-promotion), there was a wonderful, wonderful review. 

So: My colleague still cares about me, in spite of everything. My student still remembers me, years later, and thinks I made a difference. I did a good job on my book, and someone read it and thought it was great. 

Then I had another cup of coffee. Nothing had happened, and everything. My eyes are watering a little bit. I’m still sitting at my desk. 

I should remember that the next time I see someone excitedly texting, while apparently not paying proper attention to what’s in front of them. Sometimes what’s right in front of you is a phone, containing a whole world, full of marvels.