She Is My Biggest Achievement

Many tried to console the woman before they got to me. I was teaching a class, so this meant five of them. None of them spoke her language, and neither did I. She was sobbing when I took her hand. Her eyes met mine and I gave her my “I love you” look. She believed it, and followed me to my office. I shut the others out. Telephoned my friend, who spoke her language. He said “Put her on the phone.” He spoke to her for a long time. She was gulp sobbing now. I was still holding her hand. “Keep her there,” He told me. “I am coming over.” He worked at an abused woman’s shelter. He whisked her out of there. Her relatives demanded to know where she was. None of us told them. We are school teachers. We can keep a confidence. Six months later at Parent Teacher Conference a young woman came in smiling. She walked up to me and gave me a letter. She was taking classes and she had learned to write English. You saved my life, she told me. She had the sobbing woman’s eyes. She is my biggest achievement.