Every once in a rare while comes a person or group of people that are really great, and then, just my luck, they vanish. I vaguely remember having that feeling in elementary school at the end of a school year. After ten months together, I would bond with the other students, only to have the class dissolved by summer break. Then, just my luck again, I would start a new school the following year. Whatever bonds there were were broken and would always be broken. I learned to get over it and move forward.
Recently I completed a tax course that my manager wanted me to take for my work. We started in September, when people still wore sandals. We took the exam yesterday, in sunny but noticeably chilly fall weather. During 10 Saturdays together, I bonded with a great group of people. It was something out of The Breakfast Club, except that we weren’t misfits. I could not have imagined a better group of people: a retiree who wanted to learn more about recent tax law changes; a recent college graduate trying to find a career path; a woman on crutches who had bad luck of one kind or another for several years; a manager in training who only needed to pass the test; two receptionists who wanted to improve their skills, and an accountant from Venezuela who struggled with English more than the tax material. I didn’t like getting up early on Saturdays, but once I got there I grew to really like this group of people. We are now all dispersed at offices around the city, probably never to meet up like this again. Each one of them deserves an ode. Every office would be lucky to have them.
The glue that held this group together is our teacher, David. Without him, it would have been a much different class. I’m a person that likes to ask questions, and God knows I bombarded him with a lot of them. I asked about this scenario and that scenario. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to do taxes, but I wanted to understand the material. David answered my questions left and right. He helped everyone. By answering the hard tax questions, he showed that he really knew the material and wasn’t just winging it. He didn’t shy away from a single question and he always kept his wits about him. He never grew impatient, even though there were times that would have tried the patience of an average person. Through 10 weeks of 7 hours together, people’s natures come out, and one day I realized how blessed I was not only to have him as a teacher, but to be with this group of people.
To save time in the morning, I would skip breakfast and buy something at the coffeehouse next door. More times than not, the line was too long to wait so I would go to the drug store a couple doors further and buy some candy bars. Rarely do I eat sweets, but I would carefully unwrap my bar and silently commend everyone that had the wherewithal to eat breakfast and prepare their lunch before class.
This fall I experienced some trying times personally. One day I realized that this tax course was a blessing in disguise. I didn’t just learn about taxes. I grew as a person. How could I not with such a cohesive group? It is so rare these days. I will miss all of them, but I will keep this feeling in my heart. Although this group has to dissolve, I will treasure the memory. Love to all of you: Charles, Melanie, Lisa, Robert, Theresa, Rotceh and David. You are true gems.