Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
The Meeting ... and More
"I wish that I could repay a portion of the gladness you've strewn along my way. And if I could have one wish, this only would it be: I'd like to be the kind of friend that you have been to me."
— Edgar A. Guest
Voice I:
Who would have ever thought that one person could make such a difference? I mean a difference that would create such an impact that I would never have guessed it would happen to me. Yet it has happened to me and more than once. I believe that God strategically places people in our lives that really make a difference, and I have learned from Maya Angelou to call these individuals that make an impact on us our "lifelines." History has taught us that one person does and can make a difference, either positively or negatively. Consider horrible dictators like Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein. It just reminds me to thank the Lord for some of our country's heroes like John F. Kennedy, Martin L. King, Jr., and the main hero who belongs to me as well as millions of other Christians, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. But for me, Sue is one of my favorite and personal heroes who entered my life in the fall of 1990, and this walk of mine has never been the same.
Sue Whited was the name she stated when we met, and I was impressed by her full, gorgeous set of brown, wavy hair. I remember her being taller than the average female and middle aged. Upon further observation, I saw her put so much excitement and great exuberance into the current task at hand that I easily guessed that she loved teaching. I, on the other hand, loved the students and was still trying to acquire a love for teaching, which was not my first choice of careers. "Now she looks like a real teacher," I remember thinking as well. Not that I didn't feel like a real teacher because I felt I could teach. I just did not want to teach and had to learn the hard way that teaching, like preaching, is ordained by God (Ephesians 4:11). At that time, teaching jobs were the only doors God would open for me because He was specifically showing me how to submit to His will. I don't know how I looked, but Sue just had that teacher's look and I noticed it the very first day we met. You might see her in the grocery store and correctly guess, "That's a teacher." Even one of our former students called me over to his desk one day to show me a picture in a magazine. "Mrs. Hester," he stated, "Doesn't that look like Mrs. Whited with that sign — looking like a teacher-teacher?" Professional decorum disappeared as I fell out laughing while my other students looked on as if I had gone mad. That day "teacher-teacher," a term coined by our former student, was incorporated into my vocabulary. A teacher-teacher:
Stands up 95% of the time while teaching.
Arrives early to prepare for the day.
Stays late at work to plan for tomorrow.
Takes work home and actually does it.
Makes detailed lesson plans and grades every project.
Checks to make sure homework is completed.
Spends his/her own money on the students and classroom supplies.
Makes phone calls home to let parents know about problems before it's too late.
Sponsors several activities and/or clubs for the students.
Would rather come in sick than have a "sub" fill in for the day.
Has enough sick and personal days on the books to retire a few years early.
Is selected Teacher of the Year every year by someone (including a relative or friend).
We have all probably known at least one teacher who fits that description, but Sue is definitely one that I know personally. I have often said to her, "I wish I had had you as a teacher in the eighth grade, and I pray each year for my children to have a teacher like you." The great thing about that is how God has done exactly that more than once.
Sue's initial approach towards me was warm, friendly, and full of life. I liked her instantly, and after that one encounter, I felt myself drawn to her like a moth to a light. This tall, amicable woman appealed to me as sensitive, experienced, and wise. Somehow I just knew that I would learn from her, drawing from her like a really dry sponge absorbing water. Each day we found ourselves engaged in one-on-one conversations.
I have Sue to thank for my voting in each election. I had shared with her on one of those rare occasions when you take a risk with someone you're getting to know and say something deep, straight from the heart. You take this risk with that person and hope they will still like you and consider you an equal after you have said it. Sue taught social studies on our team, so the topic of current events came up often as we talked. Election time was quickly approaching, and Sue wanted to have some type of mock election with our classes (I say "our" classes because in middle school a team of two to four teachers teaches the same group of students in order to plan and correlate lessons/subjects). Needless to say, what two better subjects could you have to work together than language arts, my subject, and social studies? As Sue began to animatedly go over her plans for a mock election during our team planning time, she looked for me to grasp the excitement and tell her what English skills could best be tied into the lesson. As I sat and watched Sue, it was obvious that I was much less enthused than she. "So what do you think?" she asked. Take the risk, I thought, and suddenly my reply just gushed out of me like a child harboring a deep, dark secret. "How am I going to get our students involved in a process I haven't even participated in yet myself?" Sue looked at me, but not down at me, so from that point I let it all out. I shared with her how as a young black woman, I felt the system was full of mainly white males who held the top positions, with top pay, and we probably would never have a black president because of who I called "the powers that be." I went on to ask, "Why should I vote? I am a nobody in a white man's world." I was bitter indeed, but I sensed Sue's compassionate ear close by as I shared even more and ended with my confession that I had never voted.
By the time Sue finished with me that day, I felt proud to be an American and was ready to vote. As I made plans to register for my first election, I became excited and easily began to think of ways English would tie in perfectly with a mock election. Amazingly, as I look back, it wasn't the gruesome details of dog bites, beatings, or any lynching that caused me to go to the polls. The knowledge of struggles blacks had faced during the Civil Rights movement with the loss of many loved ones and heroes, known and unknown, was still not enough to make me vote. How ironic it was that my good friend, a white woman, had been the most influential in my decision to exercise my 15 Amendment rights. Some people would say that I should be ashamed of being an educator and not voting, but I say it was issues that had stood in the way. God provided a way out for me. Sue was sent into my life for specific reasons, and that was just one of them. Today she is one of the closest friends I have.
On the surface one might be amazed at how our friendship may appear to break some obvious social rules. She is fifteen years my senior and a southern Baptist from a small town in West Virginia. I, on the other hand, am nondenominational (many would say Pentecostal "holy roller"), and a native of Brooklyn, New York. Sometimes I think of myself as a Brooklyn chick because I was born and spent much of my formative years there before my family and I moved to a very small, rural area in North Carolina called Gates County. Somehow we found each other, and when we taught together, we made an awesome team that made a positive impact on those we taught and knew, both professionally and personally. This is our story about how we believe God has brought us together for our own personal growth and development, but most importantly, for others. It is our hope that by sharing our story, others can learn and be healed in some small way, either professionally or personally. We hope the Light that lives within us will be glorified because we have come to realize that even though we are no longer working together, we are still on the same team, with the same goals that will allow our lives to bring glory to Him.
Voice II:
In 1990 I was beginning my third year as a middle school social studies teacher, and was in the midst of moving to my third classroom in as many years. It was hot and the air conditioning was not on yet in the classrooms. As my fan whirled loudly, I found myself surrounded by stacks of posters, boxes of books, masking tape, and markers that fourth week of August. Up on a ladder to put yet another poster in just the right place, I heard a voice asking if I knew where a certain room was located. I looked down and there was an attractive, young, black teacher pushing an umbrella stroller with a little girl in it. She introduced herself, and I learned that this was Deidre Hester, my eighth grade team's new language arts teacher. My first impression was: good, we need a black teacher on our team; my second, what a beautiful smile.
Deidre and I seemed to bond almost immediately. She soon became as busy as I was trying to get her room ready. When the four teachers on our team met, she and I seemed to agree as to what we wanted for our students. I was more than willing to help her fit into the school routine and answer any questions she might have. Day after day, we always were together — talking either before or after school, or both. At first glance, we seemed to be an unlikely pair. She was much younger with a year-old daughter, and I was much older, with both of my sons in their twenties. I was raised in West Virginia, and she came from New York City by way of rural North Carolina. Despite our many differences, we soon discovered our most important similarity — we were both Christians. It seemed that our hearts drew us together in a friendship that would overcome race, age, and background. It wasn't an immediate process, but happened over a period of weeks, months, and years. The most important thing was that it happened.
My experiences with Deidre, both personally and professionally, have impacted my life in a wonderful way. I took a leap of faith in attending church services with her occasionally, and experienced the joy of her church's worship style which was very different from my own. I traveled to North Carolina and met her extended family, enjoying some of the best country cooking I've ever eaten. I even asked my husband, Richard, to help with the remodeling of Deidre's and her husband, Larry's, home. But most importantly, I was honored to be there when their son, Larry Donnell Hester, Jr., was born. Adding to that joy was the fact that Richard and I became Larry J's Godparents. Deidre made me a better teacher because what I learned from my friendship with her made me a more knowledgeable and accepting person and was multiplied into many more lives. She became a part of many memorable classroom experiences, helping to inspire our students to achieve. God placed us together for a reason, and even though we no longer work together, we are still working for Him through our sharing, praying, laughter, and tears. What we have together is too good to keep to ourselves, so we are sharing it with you, our readers.
TWO VOICES AS ONE
Are you a risk-taker in life? Have you ever taken a chance and gotten to know someone who is very different from you? Throughout our five years of teaching together, we tried to show our students that "you can't judge a book by its cover," and encouraged them to share their lives with as many different types of people as they could. Not only did we teach this concept, we modeled it. It was our hope that they would be as blessed as we have been. Now we are taking our story and experiences to another audience — our readers. We hope for the same results as we did with our students. We challenge you to reach beyond your comfort zone and become a risk-taker. God may bless you as He has us, and your life will never be the same.
TEN YEARS LATER
Deidre's Voice:
"WOW! Ten years later." As I look back over our "voices," an immediate desire to present a couple of rebuttals is now a matter of necessity. The first regarding, "it reminds me to thank the Lord for heroes like J. F. Kennedy and M. L. King (pg. 2 Voice I, 1st ed.)" After ten years of a variety of documentaries, books, and movies on the lives of these two men, there is no doubt in the minds of many that JFK was a charismatic womanizer and MLK, Jr. could have had a similar problem according to the FBI. Yet, both still remain a hero to many, including me. This is mainly because they helped further the Civil Rights Movement in several powerful ways including the loss of their lives. My other comment, was about a black man never becoming President. Well, I have to thoroughly eat those words although it was really hard for me to vote for President Obama for a second term when he openly endorsed same-sex "marriage" because I believe that marriage is God-ordained and therefore God-defined. Honestly, I did not want to vote for Obama at all, but my strong religious belief system would not allow me to vote for a known Mormon. I almost felt like I did ten or more years ago — no need to vote. Expect more on that subject in our recap of "We Agree to Disagree" (Lol — now also a relative term ten years later). I must add with some conviction though that I felt really proud when President Obama won his first election. To see black faces like mine standing out on that arena in Chicago was a feeling I will never forget. I shared this emotional connection with millions, including Oprah Winfrey, as I watched the tears streaming down her face. I think President Obama, First Lady Michelle and their daughters look really good together as a family. They have that special charismatic look to them, which reminds me of pictures that I have seen of the Kennedy family.
To date, both Sue and Richard are still a huge part of our lives as they were right there when my husband recently retired from 25 years of service in the U.S. Navy. During a special part of his ceremony, I heard my husband state how we would not be where we are without them, as they taught us a lot about living and enjoying life. I smiled and nodded easily in agreement as I thought about a variety of events we had been fortunate enough to share. The Godson Sue witnessedthe birth of nineteen years ago is now in college. Of course Sue and Richard were right there with us as we made that first sorrowful deposit of our youngest child which proved to be more painful for me than my husband, as I cried enough tears for us both. The darling daughter Sue can still picture from over twenty years ago sitting in that umbrella stroller now has a darling daughter of her own. Saniyah Grace is our first and only grandchild and an absolute Godsend.
You may have correctly assumed how Sue was right there to encourage me through it all as we became the novice "empty-nesters" just as they had reached the delightful, joyful, and pro-status of the highly experienced empty nest team. Indeed, we have continued to laugh, cry, and trust God together even though we spend more time apart from one another further distanced by our new Florida residence once we left Japan. Yet modern technology keeps our hearts and minds connected which further cements how Sue is my sister for life.
Sue's Voice:
All of us have our individual pathways through life. Most contain the same progression: family, school, friends, interests, education, jobs, marriage, children, retirement, and decline. It's interesting to look back, to self-assess after a period of time, events from our lives, and that is what I'm doing now with our Small Voices book. My pathway has led to retirement from the classroom, but definitely not from life. In the ten years since the publishing of our book, my husband and I have built our retirement home in the "Whited Woods" of WV, cared for dying parents, become active in our local church, traveled to the mountains and the seashores, visited with our son as often as possible back in Virginia, and enjoyed camping experiences. When I pick up the book and reread Ch. 1, I can still see Deidre and her darling daughter, Shamona, as I described them in that chapter. I continue to be amazed at how our friendship developed, but I can see God's hand in it all. He brought us together to share life's experiences and be a support system for one another. I have prayed for her family and children as she has prayed for mine. A lot has happened on both sides that we never expected and for which we couldn't prepare. Having a close friend on which we could rely, despite the miles of separation, made all the difference for both of us. We have had joyful times as well, enjoying scenery, music, and fun as we have visited and vacationed together. Through it all, nothing has changed — time stands still when we are together; it's as though we haven't been apart. She is my forever friend and a valued voice in my life. I'm so glad I opened myself up to the possibility of an unlikely friendship.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "One God Two Voices"
by .
Copyright © 2016 Morgan James.
Excerpted by permission of Morgan James Publishing.
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