The Bond Card

There was a mentor and a mentee. A devoted teacher and his disciple. Mr. Rucker was a loving master, and Kenny was a very submissive student. The mentor was 55, and the mentee was 15 when they met. They were a 'match made-in-heaven'. This bond was broken after 5 years because the mentor contracted cancer with a very dire prognostication. Kenny was able to visit with Mr. Rucker for about 6 months. He died 6 months after Kenny's last visit. Kenny never found another teacher to replace the one with whom he so greatly benefited. On a very windy day, Mr. Rucker spent a couple of hours on the banks of the river in their town. While there, before his demise, he thought it well for him to release the 'Bond Card" TO THE WIND as he thought about his student Kenny. The 'Bond Card' was created and shared between them; something in hand identifying their personal bond. This bond was set long before the tutor and cancer met. On one side of the card were 9 words from mentor to mentee. "Be the you for whom there is no substitute". On the other side were 10 words to be repeated by the mentee to himself every day. "I am the me for whom there is no substitute". Long after Mr. Tucker's demise, Kenny would often pull out his 'Bond Card' and lift it TO THE WIND IN THE SKY. As he held the card tightly in his right hand, he touched his heart with his left hand. Remembering the words on the 'Bond Card' that Mr. Rucker taught him to say, Kenny, with tears in his eyes, would say, "I am the me for whom there is no substitute". 102722PSCtest, A Note In The Wind. Charles Messina. 2P