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                                                            MY PUPIL

When I was working in a large company, there was a young girl that would come every day to clean the offices, she usually came early in the morning, did her chores and left; since all the workers were busy with their duties, hardly anybody talk to her, but she had a very pleasant personality, always smiling and very polite.  Our friendship started by greeting each other everyday.  One day at lunch break, she was sitting in the opposite side of the table in the lunch room, she said she liked my Spanish accent and that she always wanted to learn Spanish; since years before I worked as a bilingual secretary I told her that I could teach her, but how, she said, I have two jobs and I don’t have the time, well I said,  I can give you one or two little phrases every morning and at lunch time I will tell you the pronunciation, good she said, I really would like that. The next day I gave her the first of many lessons, simple phrases, and she showed so much interest that I gave her a little dictionary and a small note book so she could keep it all together. We barely talk in the mornings because we were working, but it was fun at lunch time. One day she told me very happy that she was teaching her little son some of the words and that he liked that, so I started to add in the lessons words like truck, car, dog, cat or something that a little boy would like to say.  During our lunch break we would laugh thinking that at this pace it would take her hundred years to learn a foreign language.

One day when I was ready to go home, I saw her waiting for me at the door, she handed me something wrapped in tissue paper, and told me she was going to move to another town, I unwrapped the gift which was a little ceramic jewelry box and inside a little note saying “Gracias, Thanks” and she apologized for the simple present, she said she just wanted to thank me for the lessons but above all for our friendship.  We hug each other and cried. Before we parted, she told me she didn’t know her new address.  That was the last time I saw her, but I treasure the little jewelry box and I will always admire her determination to learn.