(Second of two parts)
“I am not a teacher, but an awakener.”– Robert Frost
She was such a good teacher.
I remember a quote which perfectly described her: “A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination and instill the love of learning.”
I am proud to share that our class was able to produce a book of our pieces. The anthology is titled Finding the Sun.
What I found most endearing about the “great” teacher was that after class, we would eat together at Happy Garden, the restaurant below the second floor of the Sunshine Place where we held our classes. And over lunch, we would unconsciously shift our topics around, from our personal lives to creative stories in general. Of course, we always talked about “love,” the greatest topic for all of us.
I teased her about one of her greatest loves who turned out to have been a neighbor when I was in school. He was the “campus heartthrob” because of his good looks, I teased. But Tweetums would not say that he was handsome, pointing out however that he was ‘kind and good.’ Never said a bad word about anybody.
I remember too that Tweetums initiated a bar-like atmosphere at Happy Garden where we had singing a la karaoke on weekends. The restaurant would fill to the rafters with seniors like me dressed up and gathered enough courage to sing in front of a crowd. Here, we all met Atty. Loy who turned out to be a great singer.
Soon, she and Atty. Loy opened a bar on Shaw Blvd and perhaps that started their love affair. Many of us seniors would visit the bar but not too often as we thought she should attract other clients, not just seniors but young adults too.
After this, I started to miss Tweetums as she spent more time with Atty. Loy. When they married, she stopped her teaching sessions altogether. It was a happy/sad feeling.
I did not mind her absence because I knew she was enjoying a happy life with Atty. Loy. Until the day she resumed her writing class; we learned that Atty. Loy had suffered a stroke.
Students were back signing in for her class. As expected, her class was overbooked. However, I got a reservation for a class that was to open in August.
Then I heard about Atty. Loy’s passing.
In one of our lunches together she told me of her breast surgery. I related to her that my foster Mother lived with breast cancer for twenty years. Tweetums then assured me that she would live longer than that. In her characteristic hearty laugh that reverberated through the walls of the restaurant, she said “I would have been 99 years old by then.”
I had a good laugh too, my last laugh with my good teacher.
Farewell dear Tweetums! It was a pleasure to have been your student!
