Time to Say Goodbye
In my anxiety-filled, rule-breaking, soul-searching teenage years, I discovered the value in MOMS – ‘My Other Mothers’. One of the MOMs whose words of encouragement and love remain strongest in my memory would be a particular high school teacher from my Taranaki hometown. I have memories of her that date back to primary school, when my little sister and I would finish school and wander off to the next door college. There , Dad would be trying to quell a restless classroom while we drew smiley faces on the whiteboard. Later in the staffroom we stuffed our mouths with chips while Dad stuffed his satchel with paperwork and teachers smiled at us over their Arcoroc glass coffee cups. Memories from those days are precious. Dad died when I was 11 years old. My parents had separated when I was nine and old social connections were lost. So at college I was thrilled to be back in Dad’s domain. Looking back now, I can see this friend of his had , and very much still has, a heart of go