Twice in a Lifetime
Ms. Hahn was my speech/oral speaking teacher in 1979 at Hazelwood Jr. High School. Though I was terribly, painfully shy I was able to perform to an acceptable standard (of hers!) in her class--and it helped knowing I could make her laugh. But it wasn't just me. She was quick to laugh at many things and made the students laugh as well. She was funny, witty and silly. She was easy on the red ink and, in spite of what dreaded subject she taught, she was able to make class entertaining and enjoyable--because she was those things personified. (Not to mention she had a little dramatic and theatrical flair.) And she loved her Scottie dogs!
Twenty-seven years after having been in Ms. Hahn's class--in a different town, in a different capacity--she and I met again. She still loves her Scottie dogs. (She currently has two 7 month old pups named Henry and Beatrice.) She is still the personification of entertainment and enjoyment. (That dramatic/theatrical flair still "flares up" as well.) Though she doesn't have opportunity to use the red ink on me now, I'm guessing she would still be light on it; for even though she is honest, forthright and has high expectations of me now in her role as a therapist, she is still every bit (or even more so) funny, witty and silly. Hearing her laugh is therapy in itself, and we laugh a lot--in spite of "dreaded subjects."
What an amazing coincidence for our paths to have crossed again. Ms. Hahn was somoene whose opinion I regarded so highly that I kept all the speeeches I had written in her class, along with all the forms she used for grading each one--because she had written her encouraging comments on them. I pritvately wrote in my diary in 1979 of how much I liked my teacher, Ms. Hahn. Today she still has many encouraging words for me, and I am honored to be able to write more publicly now of how much I admire and respect "my teacher," Angie Hahn, who not only touched and changed my life once, but two times.
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