A Retired Teacher's Reward

I found this once again today inside a book. This book, A Book Of Luminous Things, a poetry anthology,  was given to me by a student, Natasha, who, I found out recently, is now writing for The Atlantic. Her writing may be hard to read, so here it is, or part of it: 


"Writing for you helped me see the world in my own way - I started to notice things, and I learned to make sense of them."


Natasha was, and still is, an amazing writer, and I had several students who went on to terrific writing careers. The truth is, this is blind luck for me. Here is the real truth: I don't know how to make someone a writer. I tried to show them writing that worked, and if that inspired them, then so be it. I got very lucky in having so many students who loved, and now live by, their writing. 

I miss teaching when I read things like this.